The Kamikage Chronicles: Kamikage's Wrath
by Raikiriblitz
Summary: Over time, militaries grow to the point where they become an unstoppable force to the point that conquering the world can become a reality. Unfortunately for the Shinobi Nations, this is what happens when distant countries declare war on the world, including them. For Naruto, it is a struggle against his duties as the Hokage and a father.
1. Chapter 1

The Kamikage Chronicles: Kamikage's Wrath

Chapter 1: Spectacle of the Chunnin Exams

 **I do not own** ** _Naruto._** **The series is owned by its respective owners. Likewise, I do not own the fan created character Shinachiku, and he is owned by his respective owner.**

It was a warm day in Konohagakure. Not too hot as it could get. Common after just coming out of the winter season. For Naruto, this was perfect weather for spectating.

The arena was slowly filling up with spectators for the final round of the Chunnin Exams, hosted this year by Konoha. The following year, it would be hosted by Iwagakure, putting a lot of pressure off of the Hokage's back. If it wasn't missions that is driving Naruto up the wall (or his kids for that matter), it was hosting the Exams. But it only came around every five years for Konoha, so Naruto should have no reason to complain about them. At least the economy would spike this year as it did when the Exams came.

Naruto walked up the steps towards the Kage's private space for spectating. While Naruto would prefer to be with his wife and kids, he typically followed protocol this time of year to show that he was at the very least courteous of the traditions. But he'd be lying if he said that he was looking forward to spectating with the Tsuchikage.

"Remember to keep your thoughts to yourself. No need to get into a fight, it will look bad on you." Shikamaru said behind Naruto. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Only if she doesn't start it first."

"No 'ifs'. Just don't add fuel to a fire. Be the mature one."

"You always say that to me whenever the Tsuchikage and I meet up."

"Because something always happens between the two of you, and it's quite bothersome to the other Kage."

"Not my fault if she's so damn arrogant." Naruto whispered. He could hear Shikamaru pop a blood vessel.

"Ugh. God dammit, Naruto! Just shut your trap and watch the match! If your son wins, don't showboat. This is not what you're here for."

"And if she gloats when her son wins?"

"Not our problem, nor is it yours. Be the better man." Naruto waved his hand at Shikamaru.

"Right, right. Just be glad that the Exams are almost over, yaddi yaddi ya." Shikamaru groaned, but Naruto ignored his colleague. For what Shikamaru's pay was worth, he would just have to back off and let the Hokage win … for now.

"Is Sakura in the crowd?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto sighed as he nodded.

"Well, she is the mother of our child, and her protective instincts kick in whenever any of the kids go out into a fray." Shikamaru grunted.

"Not like Shinachiku needs any." He noted softly. Naruto sighed as he thought of his youngest son.

"Yeah. Given his track record."

"Would it not be wise to hold Shinachiku back again? I mean, it might annoy him to no end that you've refused his promotion for the third time this year." Shikamaru asked. Naruto stopped his ascent and looked back to Shikamaru.

"I would, but I'm hoping that, assuming Shina wins this year, the promotion will cool him down. Contacts who have seen him fight want him. And that brings income for the Village." Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.

"I understand from the point of the Village. But as the Hokage and the boy's father, doesn't his behavior bring you concern?" Naruto crossed his arms.

"It always has, Shikamaru. Ever since he displayed it during his academy years. It's not that Sakura and I ignore it deliberately. We've inquired, we've studied, but there was nothing that we picked up on. It's as big a mystery to us as it is to you." Shikamaru looked off to the side.

"Geez, I didn't think raising kids would be this troublesome. I'm impressed you two managed six." Naruto smiled a little as he started walking again.

"So is Sakura. But in the end, we're still proud parents. Well, not quite of Shina's behavior in the past eight years. But regardless, he's still our son." Naruto said as he reached the top of the steps and opened the door.

Walking out onto the balcony, Naruto was briefly blinded by the sun before letting his eyes adjust to the sunlight. Looking downwards to the grounds where the final match would be, the noise increased as more people filled the seats. He leaned onto the rail and inhaled the fresh air.

"Lord Hokage." Naruto looked behind him and saw the tall figure standing behind him, a cloak covering his entire body. Right behind him was Kurotsuchi, wearing her official robes with a scowl on her face. Naruto smirked.

"Feel uncomfortable in the presence of my nephew, Lady Tsuchikage?" Naruto asked as he pushed himself off the rail. "I promise he's more levelheaded than I am."

"And it's quite apparent." Kurotsuchi said coldly as she looked up, her black hair having been brushed back, and her eyes pierced her colleague's. Naruto didn't flinch as he sat down beside her. He brought his hands up, his right being covered in a gray gauntlet, and rested his chin upon them. Shikamaru took his place by Naruto's left as Naruto's nephew took the right.

They sat there in silence for a while, both making it clear that they were uncomfortable in each other's presence.

"Nice day for a match." Naruto said aloud. Kurotsuchi snorted.

"It's far too hot to be a 'nice day'. Can't wait till the exams are in Iwa." She said bitterly. Naruto turned his head slightly.

"Would you care for a beverage? I can send Takeshi to grab you one." Naruto offered in an attempt to be kind. Kurotsuchi casted Naruto an offended look.

"Oh, and what are you going to have him do with it? Put laxatives in it so that I miss my son's match!" Naruto laughed as Kurotsuchi scowled a little more.

"That would be hysterical! A great prank! But the fact is, we're mature adults. Well … I would think you are. I know that I am."

"Yeah yeah, keep spouting that bull shit from your mouth." Naruto smirked as he leaned back in his chair.

The stadium continued to fill up as the two Kage waited for the final match to roll around. The Tsuchikage's bodyguard, Akatsuchi had returned to give her a water bottle to which she accepted with her thanks to him. Naruto requested some water himself as a means to cool off. The robes weren't helping at all, neither was his hair, which he had let grow past its normal length. The hair on the back of his head reached the bottom of his neck. Hair on the sides were down to the bottom of his jaw line. And on the front, his hair had formed bangs over his eyes. Parted only by his headband. The clothing he wore underneath the robes didn't help. Wearing a black baggy shirt to compensate for his right arm, and black jeans underneath. It was going to be an uncomfortable match as it was just sitting there with the Tsuchikage. But he also had to sit with the robes.

It finally came to when the majority of the people were seated and Kiba Inuzuka walked out with Akamaru in a slow walk. It amazed Naruto how Akamaru was still moving, having been put into retirement due to his age. Kiba had a new partner, but she was still getting used to the ropes of being in a partnership. Akamaru stayed around as best he could with Kiba while the new pup was training.

"That old dog looks like it's in pain." Kurotsuchi noted loudly. "Maybe the fool should consider putting it down to spare him from the misery." Naruto closed his eyes to retain his anger.

"You don't quite understand the bond the Inuzuka's have with their companions. When they bond, it's for life. They are at each other's side through thick and thin. Sure, Akamaru can't perform his duties anymore, but he has and always will be Kiba partner. Our nin ken are more than animals. They are our valued teammates. If I were to say that your grandfather should be put down because he was in pain, would you tell me otherwise?" Naruto could feel both Kurotsuchi and Shikamaru tense up by the question. Kurotsuchi opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted as Kiba began to spoke.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Kunoichi and Shinobi alike! Welcome to the final round of the Chunnin Exams!" An applause grew in volume as the spectators clapped for Kiba's introduction.

"Assuming you've been asleep for the past few rounds, there is no need for me to explain what these matches are designed for, much less explain the rules. As such, let's get this show on the road!

"But first, some reintroductions of our two Kage! From Iwagakure, the Lady Tsuchikage Kurotsuchi!" An applause ran through the stadium, but Kurotsuchi didn't stand up to make her appearance known. Naruto tutted softly as he waited for Kiba to make his call.

"And from our own Village, Konohagakure, I present Lord Hokage Naruto Uzumaki!"

An applause bigger than Kurotsuchi's ran through the stadium as Naruto stood and approached the railing, raising his hand as he greeted the people. He went to sit in his seat again as the applause died down."

"Show off." Kurotsuchi muttered. Naruto gave her a grin.

"You had your chance to make your appearance. Shame you didn't, it might have looked good for your appearance. Or made it worse. Take your pick."

"Lord Hokage." Naruto heard Shikamaru growl. Naruto turned his attention to his advisor as Shikamaru bent over to whisper in his ear.

"That was rude, you know better than to make such a comment. Even the one before was not called for." Naruto rolled his eyes as he turned his attention back to the audience.

"Then maybe she should be more polite to the hosting Village." He said coolly.

"Not the point, you idiot. Remember what I said earlier. Keep it to yourself." Naruto nodded slightly as he watched on.

"We have an interesting match today, the sons of our Kage will be duking it out for the approval of the promotion to Chunnin rank. From Iwagakure, Kurou!" A fourteen year old boy walked out from a door near the ground level, walking with a smirk that screamed " _This is my game._ " He looked like the male version of his mother, which made Naruto wonder whether Kurotsuchi simply made a clone of herself. He wore brown pants that went down to his ankle, a brown tee with a matching colored vest to go with it. Naruto looked to the opposite end of the stadium where he could practically feel his son waiting for his introduction.

"And from Konohagakure, we have Shinachiku Uzumaki!"

The applause was less than that of Naruto's, but it was still resounding. From the door, Shinachiku walked out and made his way towards the middle. Naruto looked at his son carefully.

It was clear that Shinachiku was Naruto's son from a distance. The same colored yellow hair, shape of the eyes and head. Even the body build was similar. Up close though, people could tell that Shina also did possess traits from Sakura. The same colored eyes and mouth shape. The way his hair was, it seemed to go down rather than up like Naruto's did, no doubt taking on his mother's hair with slight exceptions of the occasional spike that formed as a bang. He wore a gray, high collared short sleeved shirt, which opened slightly at the neck. Silver armbraces covered Shinachiku's forearms, and two tantos were strapped to his back. One handle by his right shoulder, and the other by the left side of his waist. Dark green cargo pants accompanied the gray attire, and on his feet were sandals of the same shade of green.

Shinachiku's face was expressionless. Nothing could be read at the moment, which disturbed Naruto that he couldn't do something as simple as read a person's expressions. Much less his own son's.

 _What could have happened to him that would require such a shift in mood?_

The two Genin met in the middle of the field as Kiba quickly went over the rules again. Naruto studied Kurou, noting that he was definitely a match for Shinachiku, but seemed to lack a head to head edge, something Shinachiku definitely had over the competition.

"Without further ado, on my mark, the match will begin." Kiba said as he stood back. Naruto chuckled softly, as he recalled that when his friend had last refereed a match with Shinachiku, the young child had bulldozed him in an attempt to get at his opponent.

"Think you can take me on?" Kurou questioned Shinachiku. Naruto could see Shinachiku raise an eyebrow.

"I know I can." He said loud enough for the crowd to hear. "But I was taught my manners. So ladies first, if you please." A loud "ooh" echoed through the audience, and it caused Naruto to turn his face away from Kurotsuchi, doing his best to not laugh aloud. He briefly caught Shikamaru's glance, who frowned at Naruto's reaction. Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"I find it funny. Can you blame me?" Shikamaru sighed and shook his head.

"Yes I can."

"Combatants, on my mark!" Kiba shouted to get the two opponents ready to fight. Kurou now had a scowl on his face from Shinachiku's response and spread his feet, looking to jump backwards. Shinachiku moved his left foot behind him and leaned low.

"Fight!"

Shinachiku wasted no time in charging Kurou, and Kurou responded by jumping backwards with his hands in a couple of seconds.

"Doton: Rokkusheruta!" Kurou was then enveloped by a wall of rock, which was met by Shinachiku's fist, tough enough that it didn't crack.

"There's something I don't see often." Naruto mumbled. Shinachiku took a step back and prepped his fist and hammered it into the wall, breaking it in the second hit and causing the dome to crumble. He proceeded to scour the mess for his opponent, but Naruto knew that Kurou had dug underground.

 _Subtle tactics. Something Shinachiku doesn't handle too well. Much less from underground._

Sure enough, the ground around Shinachiku shook which caused him to look around for his opponent. Naruto could see the surprise on his son's face. Right from where Shinachiku stood, the earth erupted beneath his feet and launched him into the air. Kurou rose from the ground and his hands formed for another hand sign.

"Yoton: Sekkaigyo no Jutsu!" From Kurou's mouth was a gray substance that looked gravelly, and it eventually connected with Shinachiku, covering him in it. Naruto grimaced.

"Kekkei Genkai." Naruto muttered. "Seems like he inherited that from you, huh?" He proceeded to ask. Kurotsuchi glanced to look at him.

"Impressed? Or jealous that your own children don't have such abilities?" Naruto felt a nerve pop when she boasted of her child possessing her family's Kekkei Genkai. He decided to keep his mouth shut, not wanting to add fuel to a fire.

Shinachiku had touched the ground and was trying to get the gray substance off of himself. Korou approached Shinachiku again with his hand forming a funnel around his mouth.

"Suiton: Mizurappu!" A jet of water shot from his mouth and connected with Shinachiku, knocking back into the wall. When Kurou ended the technique, Shinachiku was trapped in a gray mold. He tried to break himself free, but to no avail.

"That was quicklime I covered you in." Kurou explained. "When it comes into contact with water, it quickly solidifies around the target. And now you can't move, leaving me to beat the living shit out of you freely." Kurou proceeded to walk up to Shinachiku and started to connect punches to his opponents face.

Shinachiku clearly was trying to retaliate against the casing around him, but Kurou avoided punching him anywhere near to the quicklime. Kurou was trying to knock Shinachiku unconscious and would thus end the final round in his favor. And with each punch, Naruto could practically feel Kurotsuchi's grin getting bigger and bigger. But Naruto remained neutral, knowing full well that Shinachiku wasn't quite down for the count yet.

Yet it would seem that Shinachiku had stopped retaliating and his head rolled back. Seeing that Shinachiku was quite clearly unconscious from the beating. Kurou proceeded to take Shinachiku out of the concrete, and proceeded to punch him a few more times before throwing him into the ground, raising his hands above his head, some of the crowd cheering while others were cussing him out.

"Seems like Iwa trains their Shinobi better than the rest of the Alliance." Kurotsuchi said as Kiba went to look at Shinachiku. Naruto glanced over to Kurotsuchi and shrugged.

"Maybe so. And to that I would congratulate your son for his victory." Naruto said as he looked down as Kiba turned to the audience with Kurou standing beside him with a big grin on his face.

"And the victor is-" A quick gasp cut Kiba off long enough for him and Kurou to turn around. Shinachiku had gotten up and charged Kurou, punching him in the gut and sending him across the stadium.

"Bullshit!" Kurotsuchi shouted as she got out of her chair. She turned to Naruto and got into his face.

"He was knocked out! Quite clearly!" Naruto looked around her and shook his head.

"Well … apparently he wasn't." Kurotsuchi growled.

"You fooled me! You knew all along that he was conscious!" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"And you second guessed an Uzumaki? I expected better from you, Lady Tsuchikage." Kurotsuchi walked away from Naruto's space, giving Naruto room to see what was going on.

Shinachiku had clearly pressed his surprise advantage as he proceeded to beat Kurou into the ground with quick punches to the gut and face. Eventually he pressed his opponent into the wall. Shinachiku reached for his tanto and pulled them out, the silver blade gleaming in the sun for a brief moment as he proceeded to spin them in his hand and plunge them into Kurou's shoulders. Kurou let loose a scream of pain which made Naruto cringe. Shinachiku stood there as he looked at Kurou, waiting for something to happen. Everyone in the stadium was silent, and Kiba was approaching the two to see what was going on. Naruto got up from his seat and placed a hand on the rail.

It was quite clear that Kurou was still conscious, as he was still moving his head and once and a while, a whimper could be heard from Naruto's elevation there and then.

For another five minutes, it was quiet. Occasionally Naruto heard Kiba question Kurou if he wished to surrender. But there was no response. But Naruto was concerned about the loss of blood Kurou was experiencing. And he was sure Shinachiku wasn't going to move an inch until he has secured victory.

"I'm surprised that you haven't called off the fight yet." Naruto said to Kurotsuchi.

"Why should I?" She questioned. Naruto turned his head.

"Your son is dying as he loses more blood. Do you not care enough for him to call off the match? As his mother?" Kurotsuchi looked at Naruto for another moment before she got up and approached the railing.

"In my son's stead, I request a forfeit from the match." Kurotsuchi said aloud. Kiba looked up to Kurotsuchi before looking to Naruto, who nodded and had Kiba turn to the audience.

"By the Tsuchikage's request, Kurou is forfeit from the match. Shinachiku Uzumaki is the victor of the Chunnin Exams." A thunderous roar echoed the stadium as Shinachiku pulled his tanto out of Kurou's shoulders. Kurou collapsed to the ground, seemingly breathing heavily. The two Kage quickly jumped over the ledge into the field. As Kurotsuchi ran over to her son, Naruto went to approach his son who was walking away from the scene. Before he could reach his son, someone else did.

"Are you okay, Shina?" Naruto heard from the distance. Shinachiku stopped in his tracks to look at the person.

"Yeah."

"How's your face? Are you sore from the blows?"

"No."

"Are you lying to me?"

"No."

Naruto came up on the duo, seeing his son up close, whose face looked a lot worse up close. His nose bleeding, his cheek cut, and a black eye seemingly in the works. He turned to the other person, his wife.

"What's your orders, doc?" He said in a light tone. Sakura raised an eyebrow as she turned to her husband.

"You know what I want for him. Doesn't mean that he'll listen to me." Sakura said. Naruto now raised an eyebrow and turned to Shinachiku.

"Shina, listen to the doctor's orders. We would prefer that you have that treated. Go see your sister, she can probably take care of it." Shinachiku groaned a little, but nodded as he walked off. Naruto and Sakura watched him go before Sakura sighed. Naruto turned to the hooded figure that stood guard beside him for the match, as well as Shikamaru who hovered behind.

"Make sure he gets there, Takeshi. Shikamaru, go check on Kurou's condition. Make sure he doesn't need emergency medical attention." Naruto said. The hood bobbed in response as Shikamaru sighed.

"Of course, Uncle." Takeshi said in a low voice. He proceeded to follow after Shinachiku as Shikamaru walked towards Kurotsuchi muttering how troublesome Naruto could be.

"Why does every one of our kids have that element of surprise which gets everyone?" Sakura said placing her fists on her hips. Naruto chuckled weakly as he turned to his wife.

"Dominant gene I guess." Naruto said as he looked at her closer.

The years had been kind on Sakura since the two had been reunited two decades ago. Her hair had grown well past the middle of her back, her bangs pulled back by her headband, which showed off her green eyes. She wore a pink, collared, long sleeved shirt with white stripes running along the sleeves, a necklace with a sapphire adorned on it around her neck. With that was a white skirt with pink trimming along the hem. She wore her beige sandals with them. If one were to pay attention, a silver ring is wrapped around her left ring finger.

"Are you going to promote him?" Sakura questioned. Naruto took a step back as he brought his arms behind his head and stretched.

"Well, I think that the wait's over. But he's still got a long way to go before I really consider giving him higher ranked missions." Naruto said as he turned his attention towards Kurotsuchi and her entourage. She seemed slightly relieved ash she picked her son up and started walking off, Shikamaru watching them as they do so. Naruto exhaled a sigh of relief.

"I'm just glad these Exams are over with." Naruto said. He felt Sakura's soft hand envelope his left and pull him.

"C'mon. Let's go for a quick walk before we have to go back to work." She said with slight cheeriness in her voice. Naruto stood there for a moment before he allowed himself a smile and let his wife finally pull him towards her. Sakura wrapped an arm around his waist as Naruto wrapped his own around her shoulders and the two walked off for a brief excursion.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I'm back! Second installment for this trilogy, and a long chapter to accompany it (long enough for me at least).**

 **Well, we'll see what happens from here. Uploads will be sporadic due to the fact that I'm getting back into my hectic work schedule. Why I didn't start it out earlier when I had the time … I was still playing around with what I wanted to do with the second installment. But I've started it now, and maybe this will get me motivated to get back into writing on a daily basis again.**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter, great! If not, sorry to disappoint.**

 **Until next time, see ya!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Wishful Thinking

 **I do not own** ** _Naruto_** **, nor the character Shinachiku. Both belong to their respective owners.**

Naruto stacked his papers into a neat pile and moved them to a corner before turning his attention back to the laptop, clicking away at the keyboard in response to a message from Gaara concerning the end of the exams. Shikamaru was looking through a book while Takeshi, in his hooded cloak, stood behind him silent.

"Do we know if there has been any new missions being reported?" Naruto asked.

"No. It's only been a couple of days since the Exams ended. You know the routine." Shikamaru said. Naruto shrugged as he looked over the top of the computer.

"Then you know why I ask." Naruto said as he flipped the top down and leaned back into his chair, exhaling loudly.

"Is this all you do when you're not handling an event?" Takeshi asked. Naruto chuckled as he brought his hands to his face and raked them down.

"You haven't asked your dad? He did this before I was in the chair." Naruto asked. Takeshi shrugged.

"Dad just tells me that it's a whole bunch of paper work every day." Naruto chuckled as he leaned back forward and got up.

"Kakashi definitely would say that." Naruto played with the things on his desk, fiddling with the photograph on his desk. "Why don't you two head home. I think we've done enough for one day." Shikamaru turned around with a scowl on his face.

"It's only noon, Lord Hokage. You can stand to work a few more hours." Shikamaru said. Naruto laughed.

"Oh come on Shikamaru. It's been a couple of days since the Exams. Don't you at least want a break?" Shikamaru glared at Naruto.

"We had two days off from the office."

"But the past two days we made sure that traffic was managed." Naruto pointed out. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"What, you're tired?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto nodded.

"I mean, you know how I am when it comes to these things."

"You just get tired from simply walking to the tower on a regular day." Takeshi interjected. Naruto felt a nerve pop as Shikamaru chuckled. Naruto turned his head towards his nephew.

"You know kid, there are times I want you to talk more. But damn, not when you're insulting me!" Takeshi shrugged.

"Careful what you wish for, Uncle." Takeshi said. Naruto sighed as he shook his head, sitting right back down in his chair and opening up his laptop.

"Go for a run, Takeshi." Naruto said. Takeshi nodded.

"Understood." Takeshi turned towards the open window and jumped out.

"He's a good kid." Shikamaru said aloud. Naruto's eyes remained focused on the screen as he nodded.

"Definitely not like his biological parents."

"Then Kakashi taught him well." Shikamaru said. "And you too I guess." Naruto snorted.

"Please, Kakashi did all of that. I've already got six of them to keep track of." Naruto paused for a moment as he sighed. "Though … I do wish I had gotten Sasuke back. And saved Shin so that they could have seen Takeshi now." He cast his eyes down to the photograph with himself, Sakura, and a tall, dark haired man with a big grin on his face, his eyes a dark red. An almost identical clone of his biological father. Shikamaru glanced over before turning his attention back to his book.

"How's Mai?" He asked. Naruto looked a little longer at the picture before turning his attention to Shikamaru.

"She's doing fine actually. Mai's dedication to her passion has led her beyond what even I could dream of. Sakura and I were surprised when she announced that she was going to venture out to the world so that she could learn the different variations to dancing."

"Could have been a dangerous kunoichi is she had stayed here and continued her training." Shikamaru noted. Naruto snorted as he smiled at the thought of his daughter being helpless.

"Please, she could give Yuuta a run for his money. Compared to Hikari and Aimi, she's the more active of my daughters."

"All of your kids are pretty active in general." Shikamaru said as he walked over to Naruto. Naruto shrugged as he played around on his computer.

"Well … my reputation doesn't necessarily help them at all."

"It doesn't help any of our kids." Shikamaru said. "Look at what we've done with the Fourth War. Everyone is expecting the next generation to be greater than we are." Naruto nodded as he pulled up a file and started to type.

"Yeah. As much as I care for the people and would risk my life for them, their expectations puts on pressure for those with the reputation." Shikamaru hummed as he placed a file next to Naruto. Naruto cast his eyes upon it, and reached out to push it off to the side.

"Make sure you sign that before you leave." Shikamaru said. Naruto grunted in acknowledgment.

The rest of the day was quiet as Naruto and Shikamaru worked through the paperwork and completed missions waiting for the Hokage's signature. Takeshi would return and make his spot beside Naruto as his guard. Shikamaru would file as Naruto signed off forms and typed out proposals for construction within the Village. The time passed slowly, but when it finally reached that point of leaving, Sakura entered the office to wait for her husband to finish up.

"Did you two get a lot done today?" She would ask as she walked over to Naruto and kissed him on the cheek. Naruto grunted as Shikamaru nodded. Takeshi chuckled.

"It's actually the first time I've actually seen Uncle work. And he even wanted to leave early. Good thing Shikamaru said no." Naruto sighed as Shikamaru chuckled, and he felt his wife looming over him with her arms crossed.

"Takeshi … you have your father's knack of getting me in the most awkward of situations. Do me solid … read the situation before you make a comment."

"After a little over twenty years of being Hokage, you should have had gotten used to working a full shift!" Sakura noted. Naruto turned in his chair and got up.

"You get to move around and about! I get to sit behind a desk-"

"And sign paper work." Sakura finished, putting her hands on her hips. "You knew what you were getting into when you took on the hat. It's the same old excuse you've made for the last twenty years." Naruto groaned as he walked away from his desk and walked towards the door.

"I didn't sign up for the paperwork." Naruto said. Sakura chuckled as she followed him out.

"I know genius. Now quit complaining and let's go home so that we can start dinner. The rest of the kids will be finishing up soon." Sakura turned around towards Takeshi.

"Can you pass along an invitation to your father, Takeshi? It's been a while since you two have joined us for a meal." Takeshi nodded.

"Of course, Aunt Sakura. I'm sure Dad would be more than happy to have a meal that he doesn't have to cook." Sakura laughed a little as Naruto shrugged off his white coat in exchange for his black.

"Sounds like something Kakashi would do." Naruto said aloud as he shouldered his coat. Sakura walked over to Naruto and pulled on his arm.

"I'll watch over the Hokage. You earned you break, so we'll see you for dinner." Takeshi nodded.

"We'll see you then." Naruto waved to his nephew and Shikamaru.

"Have a good night, Shikamaru. Hope Temari doesn't gut you." Shikamaru gave Naruto a weird look.

"When has she ever-"

"Say hi to her for us." Sakura interrupted as she glared at her husband. Naruto gave her a grin as he walked off. Sakura followed after, quickening her pace a moment to walk beside her husband.

"I hope his pay is worth having to deal with you all the time." Sakura said aloud. Naruto chuckled as he wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"So long as I get my amusement for the day, we're good." Naruto said as the two descended the steps. "Nothing drastic happen at the hospital today?" he asked. Sakura shook her head.

"Hikari's complaining that there's nothing to do but sit around and clean the surgical instruments a hundred times over before there is an issue. Noboru finds it relaxing that we don't have to do anything. Gives him time to read." Naruto smiled as he thought of his kids.

"She's probably dying of boredom over there since you've left." Naruto noted. Sakura sighed.

"That's your fault when looking into the genes." Sakura said.

"It takes two to tango, and you're not exactly the patient type either." Naruto said offhandedly. Sakura glared at Naruto.

"You were the one who wanted a large family."

"Could have said no to me." Naruto said. Sakura slapped Naruto upside the head, causing him to sidestep away from her to rub his head.

"We have them, and I don't regret giving birth to them with you as their knuckleheaded father. Now quit being an ass and help me think about what we're going to have for dinner tonight." Naruto sighed as he sidled back over to Sakura's side.

"I don't regret having them either, dear. I shouldn't have made that comment, so I'm sorry for offending you." The two were silent for a couple of minutes as they walked out of the office building and onto the streets, passing by citizens who hailed the Hokage. Naruto would wave in acknowledgment or exchange a few words.

"Sometimes, you amaze me with your brief moments of maturity." Sakura said. Naruto turned his head to his wife and smiled, bending his head down to kiss the top of her head.

"Gotta keep our love life exciting and amusing." Naruto said as he walked into a store for groceries. Sakura followed behind him.

"I hope you're not thinking what I think you meant by that." Sakura said quietly as she inspected an onion. Naruto reached over for a basket and looked at some tomatoes.

"Not at all Sakura. It's been a while since one of our … excursions though."

"The only reason why I'm asking." Sakura said casting a glance over to her husband.

"Can we make ramen tonight?" Naruto asked. Sakura looked at him a little longer before shrugging.

"Sure. But you get to handle the noodles. I'll take care of the other components." She said as she put the onion in her husband's basket. Naruto nodded.

"Sounds like a deal."

The two shopped on in silence, picking up the necessary vegetables needed for their meal before paying for it and making their way back home.

As Naruto didn't live in the mansion typically given to the Hokage, he and Sakura had found a home close by for their family. A two story building with gray paneling with a green house was visible behind the house, with a low leveled wooden fence that bordered the property. This had been the Uzumaki Clan's home since Naruto and Sakura had married twenty three years ago. For Naruto, this was a big step up from the apartment he had lived in for his childhood and adolescent years, and was proud of the place he called home which he built with Sakura.

A ramp went up to a deck besides the building, which the two walked up on as Naruto reached for his keys.

"I'm still surprised it's hold up this long." Sakura commented. Naruto pouted slightly.

"Hey, come on! I poured my sweat and tears into that project. Of course I made sure that it was going to be solid." Sakura chuckled as she tapped her foot on the deck.

"It's a compliment, dear." Naruto looked at Sakura blankly as she took the keys from his hand and proceeded to unlock the door.

"Oh … well … thanks." Sakura walked through the door with a smirk on her face leaving Naruto confused as he followed suit.

The two made way into their kitchen as Sakura pulled out the pans and Naruto pulled out their groceries for dinner and went about preparing the meal. Naruto made the noodles as Sakura chopped and diced vegetables to go into the broth. Both would ask the other questions concerning certain missions or make a quip about some past moments like Naruto failing on his first attempt to make dinner for Sakura on their first date, which would earn a laugh from the both of them.

The door would open and shut quickly as Naruto turned his head to see which of his kids had walked in, seeing Shinachiku with his back turned towards him and making his way down the hall towards his room.

"Shina?" Sakura questioned her husband. Naruto sighed in confirmation. "Has his attitude changed at all since the exams?"

"No." Naruto said as he shook his head and proceeded to strain the noodles. "Funny, because it's the first time that he's initiated a conversation with me in years, but it's about getting him on higher ranking missions. Don't quite know if I'm regretting giving him that promotion now." Sakura turned her head towards her husband.

"I'm sure that it's just a phase he's going through. He'll come around when the time is right." Sakura said as he dipped a spoon to taste the broth. Naruto hummed as he poured the noodles into a bowl and set aside the one he just cooked into the sink.

"I'll go see what he's up to." Naruto said as he walked around the counter.

"Tell him that dinner will be ready in a couple minutes!" Sakura said over her shoulder. Naruto nodded in acknowledgment, though he noted he should have said something so that she knew that he did.

Walking down the hallway, Naruto briefly glimpsed at the framed pictures on the wall. Ranging from family portraits to head shots, or small groups. He made his way up the stairs as he picked up on the loud music coming out of Shinachiku's room. Naruto rolled his eyes at the absurd loud volumes coming from his youngest son's room. Knocking was not going to be an option. Approaching the door, Naruto opened up into his son's room, gray walls surrounded the area, smelling of oil and metal parts as there was two desks cluttered with broken machines on them. Farthest from the room was Shinachiku, the music blaring from the speakers attached to a usb port off his computer, in which his son was bent over typing away, clicking here and there before pushing off the desk and tinkering with a machine on the ground. Naruto watched on until his son finally noticed him and went to turn the volume down.

"Disturbing the peace or something?" Shinachiku asked. Naruto shrugged.

"Probably wouldn't have bothered us for another ten minutes. In which case we would have called you down for dinner anyway."

"So why are you bothering me?" Shinachiku asked as he leaned back in his chair. "Did you finally find a mission to send me on?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at his son.

"I was curious as to what you were doing. You didn't greet us when you got home."

"I've been doing that for the past couple of months, what's new?" Shinachiku asked, raising his eyebrow. Naruto sighed.

"Some acknowledgment to your parents would be respectful. And you haven't exactly been showing that for the last three years."

"Not my fault you let it slide." Shinachiku coolly said.

"Excuse me?" Naruto raised his voice at his son, something he rarely did to his kids until they started to chest up. Shinachiku quickly realized that he had stepped out of line and looked away from his father.

"Sorry. I wasn't thinking." Shinachiku said softly. Naruto grunted.

"Clearly. Next time, be mindful of who you are talking to. I'm your father now, but when you stand at attention in front me behind the desk, it'd be best to keep your mouth shut unless it is for good reason. " He said as he proceeded to back out of the room. "Dinner in five, Mom has invited Kakashi and Takeshi for dinner." Without looking at his son's face, Naruto quickly turned around and closed the door behind him, pausing there for a moment as Shinachiku turned his music back on, causing Naruto to roll his eyes and walk back to the kitchen.

As he made his way down the stairs, he heard laughing and a groan walk through the door.

"Should have ran faster, sis!"

"I wasn't in any hurry, Yuuta. Now pipe down and take your shoes off before Mom sees you."

"Ooh, good call Hikari. Last I need is a lecture about how long she had swept and mopped up these floors for two hours. Don't know why she bothers."

"It's a matter of cleanliness, Yuuta." Naruto said aloud, catching his two kid's attention as he rounded the corner. "Something your mother has preached to you ever since you got your own room." Yuuta chuckled.

"Mom has noted that I was like you in your youth with a mess of an apartment." Naruto smirked.

"Yeah, and she rarely set foot in it unless it was totally clean or she was grabbing me for a mission. You definitely won't get a girl to come into your room with the level of disaster it's in now." Yuuta rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled weakly.

"Touché."

Yuuta and Hikari were the set of twins Naruto and Sakura had two years after their first born, and they were almost considered clones of the respective parents. Yuuta with his blue eyes, yellow hair, and mischievous smile; Hikari with her pink hair running down her back, green eyes, and the scolding look to her older brother. Yuuta was a class clown and saw humor in everything, Hikari followed the rules and had a no nonsense mentality. That said, there was at least one trait they inherited from the other parent. Hikari inherited her father's impatience, Yuuta his mother's monstrous strength.

Yuuta is the oldest by six minutes, and while tall like his father, he wasn't lanky. Rather, Yuuta sported a heavy, muscular build, with his driving notion that he always needed to be ready to fight the big monster and save the Vilage (needless to say he fancied himself a superhero, a personal dream he's had since his childhood). He wore a green, high collared short sleeved shirt underneath his flak jacket with blue cargo pants that stopped at his ankles. Green boots were wore out of a desire to trek through any terrain and not have to worry about fallen twigs or sticks in their home region. Worn bandages covered both of Yuuta's arms to hide the tattoos he had gotten years ago. While he would have preferred to show them off, Sakura does not approve of them. While Naruto noted that he was in a similar boat with Sakura, he turned it into the notion that, as the tattoos were a part of Yuuta's personal combat style, it would be best to keep them hidden as a secret weapon. Wrapped in a coil at his waist was a metal chain with a kunai attached at the end. His head band with a blue cloth was wrapped around his bicep.

Hikari was slim like her father, perhaps the only trait she inherited from him. She wore beige pants with the same colored sandals and a white long sleeved shirt. She also wore the green flak jacket, though above the left breast pocket was the medical emblem. Hikari did not wear her headband like her brother, noting that it was quite clear that she was a member of the Uzumaki Clan. Black gloves peeked from the other breast pocket, metal plating covering the fingers.

"How was your day, Dad." Hikari asked as she went to kiss him on the cheek. Naruto smiled.

"It was as smooth as it could be. But also boring. I already asked Mom how the hospital was, though I'm curious as to what your side of the story is." Hikari rolled her eyes.

"I think she probably told you that I cleaned the surgical instruments over a hundred times. Nothing's happened at all. Shina's walk in was probably the only thing I've had all month. And the Exams did happen!" Naruto sighed.

"Trust me kiddo, I hear you." He then turned to his son. "What about you?" Yuuta groaned as he brought his arms behind his back.

"Team and I worked out all day. Nothing spectacular. Tried to make a move on some cute girls while I worked out. And then-"

"I intervened." Naruto turned to the newcomer's voice, seeing Kakashi and Takeshi standing in the doorway with a bouquet of flowers in hand.

The years were catching up to Kakashi, as gray was starting to become prominent in his hair. Creases were visible from Naruto's standpoint, the laugh lines noticeable in his mask. But he still maintained that air of youth, even in his late fifties, as he walked in with a steady gait. The headband made its departure a couple years ago when Takeshi was capable of going on his own high leveled missions. But while he had announced retirement when he dropped the headband, he still wore his flak jacket. When Naruto had asked, Kakashi noted that it would be weird to be without it like it would be for Naruto with his headband. Aside from that, Kakashi didn't seem to change.

"The bastard." Yuuta growled. Kakashi turned to Yuuta, a spark of amusement in his eyes.

"Long time no see, Yuuta. I did happen to escort those young ladies back to their activities after you failed to impress them." Naruto chuckled as he turned to his son.

"Flaunting doesn't get a guy anywhere, champ. Just builds you up to be egotistical." Yuuta pouted slightly.

"It was going smoothly until he came around the corner. I didn't even see him!" Hikari scoffed.

"Goes to show you still need training." She said.

"Shut up!" The small group laughed as Naruto pushed his twins a little to get them down the hallway.

"Let's move it into the kitchen. We can talk there and get our guests situated."

The group made way into the kitchen where Sakura had mixed the noodles with the broth and noticed their two guests.

"Nice of you to join us!" Sakura said as she went to hug her Sensei. Kakashi chuckled.

"It's nice of you to invite us, Sakura. It has been a while since we've been here, hasn't it Takeshi?" Takeshi nodded as he pulled back the hood of his cloak.

Straight black hair went past Takeshi's shoulders and bangs covered both eyes. But if one were to look closely, they would notice the dark red eyes he possessed. He looked exactly like Sasuke, which caused many heads to turn and whispers to spread as he walked out in the open. The reason he chose to always wear his hooded cloak to escape the eyes of the public. But he was nothing like father personality wise (or his mother for that matter). Maybe quiet and a magnet for women, but he didn't display a cold attitude towards the people around him. He wasn't one to showboat and refrained from being a true fighter. He held great respect for his teammates and colleagues, and chose to be a shinobi simply to help others rather than for personal gain. It always caught Naruto off guard whenever Takeshi was around and didn't give his Uncle disrespect as his biological father had done in the past.

"It's only been a month, Dad. You're just not fond of cooking." Kakashi chuckled as did the rest of the room.

"There's no denying that. So, may I ask what we are having tonight?" Kakashi said as he seated himself at the table.

"Naruto suggested ramen." Sakura said as she turned back to the stove. Kakashi nodded as Naruto and his children proceeded to sit down.

"Well, when I know you're making it, it'll be healthy and good for my age. Need to cut back on the calories at my age."

"You're not much older than we are, Sensei." Naruto noted as he leaned back in his chair. Kakashi turned his glance towards him.

"True, but I am well past my physical prime, as you and Sakura have recently passed yours as well. Time enough to start considering retirement and the state of your health."

"Meaning less trips to Ichiraku's for you." Sakura said over her shoulder as Naruto pouted.

"What are you talking about? I'm in great physical shape! Besides, I've got Kurama to keep me healthy!"

 ** _Keep you alive, you idiot. Not necessarily healthy._** Naruto proceeded to chuckle as he rubbed his head, noticing that Sakura was glaring at him, who probably knew full well that Kurama had made a comment.

 _Help a brother out, you ass!_

 ** _You can help yourself by not bringing me into the mix and admitting that your teacher and wife may have a point._**

 _Not helping._

 ** _Who said I was supposed to?_**

 _Me!_

 ** _Sucks for you. I'm siding with them._**

Naruto groaned as he leaned onto the table and rubbed his forehead, before noting that the kitchen was silent and looked up to see everyone staring at him. He quickly glanced towards his wife who had a smirk on her face, as if knowing that Kurama was indeed siding with her.

"You're lucky I even agreed to ramen." Sakura said as she lifted the pot up and brought it over to the table. It was then that the door opened and wheels seemed to ride over the bottom frame.

"We're home!" A high pitched voice said.

"Smells like ramen! So what are you all eating tonight while I have my ramen!" Another voice joined the first, and the pair of footsteps joined the slight grunts.

Around the corner came the eldest child and the youngest daughter.

Running down the hallway was Aimi, pink hair with two ponytails by the back of her head with blue eyes with a big smiled stretched across her face. She had her mother's eye shape and her father's mouth. She wore yellow shorts with a black and yellow striped t- shirt, her black headband wrapped around her forehead.

Aimi reached her father and gave him a big kiss on the cheek which caused Naruto to chuckle by the affection his daughter was giving, before she quickly turned and did the same to her mother, to which Sakura responded in kind. As his daughter did that, Naruto turned his head to see his oldest son wheel himself into the kitchen.

"Just in time for dinner." Naruto noted with a smirk. His son returned the gesture.

"Yeah, so what are you guys having?"

Noboru would have been Naruto's clone if not for the fact he had inherited his mother's straight hair of a medium length. Granted, it was blonde like Naruto's, and his bangs would have covered his eyes if not for the efforts of his black headband and matching colored glasses. He wore an orange zip up hoodie that covered a heavy and muscular build similar to his younger brother's. A tight black shirt was worn underneath it, black fingerless gloves on his hands, and black pants. The wheelchair that he traversed in had oddly matched pieces, duct tape, and signatures in marker all over it.

When Noboru was born, complications during the pregnancy had rendered his legs paralyzed. It was a rare birth defect as Sakura had maintained a healthy lifestyle since she had found out initially. There had been over a hundred attempts to get him on his feet, Sakura working relentlessly to give her son the chance to live a normal life as she felt guilty for bringing him into the world in his state. Though there were a few successes; they were brief, lacked the proper resources, and couldn't support Noboru for long. Sakura has yet to give up on her project, avoiding anything that would kill him at his young age. Though she valued each of her children with the greatest amount of love she can give, she believed she failed him and her husband in a way that she thinks she has to make amends for something she had little control over. In the end however, Noboru didn't let his handicap get the better of him, and has been regarded as one of the best shinobi in his generation.

"Was everything ready for the next shift?" Sakura questioned her son as she proceeded to hand out bowls. Noboru nodded as he assumed his place at the end of the table.

"Shizune Sensei took over as I was making my way out." Sakura nodded in approval.

"Excellent. Now, we're still waiting on Shina." As she said his name, Shinachiku walked through the door and took his spot on the table. The room went quiet with his entrance, every set of eyes watching him.

"Did you have a good day, Shina?" Sakura asked her son. Shinachiku looked up to his mother and seemingly contemplated answering, until he caught his father's notice and mumbled an answer. Naruto sighed, but decided to let it drop for the time being as his teacher and nephew were in their company.

"Let's get everybody served. I'm starving." Naruto said as he assisted Sakura in serving everyone.

The rest of dinner went smoothly, Shinachiku didn't speak unless spoken to by Kakashi, in which he acknowledged out of respect. Conversations were carried out here and there, in which Naruto for the most part kept silent and enjoyed the company he was in. Laughter would fill the air, Naruto would partake in it from the time to time. Eventually the meal would be finished and everyone would start to disperse to do their own things. Yuuta and Shinachiku going up to their rooms, Hikari and Aimi going to help their father with doing the dishes as Sakura brought out some tea. This too would come and go as Kakashi and Takeshi would bid their farewells and make way to their home as Noboru, Hikari and Aimi would return to their rooms for their downtime. Sakura would make way to the bedroom to wind down as Naruto would make his way into his office and go about signing some paper work needed for updating the Village's needs. The computer at his desk lit the room as Naruto typed up proposals, occasionally rubbing his eyes to push away the weariness. His headband would be untied and set onto the desk, letting his hair fall past his eyes. The plates and bandages surrounding his right arm would come loose and placed beside the headband to air out his scarred hand, causing Naruto to grimace as he reminded himself of his bout with Sasuke years ago.

"Up for a stroll?" Naruto raised his head to see Sakura standing in the doorway with her evening dress on and a coat wrapped around her shoulders. He groaned as he stretched and proceeded to get up from his chair and shut his computer off.

"A little date?" Naruto questioned as he wandered over to Sakura and grabbed his black coat, hanging it over his shoulder. Sakura smiled.

"It's been a while since we've had one." She said, walking off towards the entrance. Naruto allowed a soft smile as he followed his wife, put on his shoes and walked out with her.

"Your mother and I are going out of the house for a bit! We'll be back shortly!" Naruto called out to his kids, eliciting a response from a couple of them. He closed the door, wrapped an arm around Sakura and proceeded to walk around the Village.

They might have made a comment here or there, but for the most part, they stayed quiet and enjoyed each other's company. Their stroll would take them to the top of the Monument, in which they would sit on somebodies head (could have been the Sandaime's or the Yondaime's, it didn't matter). At about three hours before midnight, the sky was dark and the stars were out. The faint glow of the Village obscured some of the night's beauty, but it didn't diminish the moment for the two of them. Sakura leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder as Naruto looked at the night sky with a content smile on his face.

"It's a great life we lead." Sakura said softly to Naruto. Naruto turned his eyes downwards to her.

"It is. We've got our home, our family, friends, each other." Sakura sighed as she picked her head up and scooted right in front of Naruto, placing her hands in his. Naruto went to look at what she was doing, but Sakura didn't do anything with them.

"I hope it doesn't change." Sakura said. Naruto nodded in agreement.

"So do I, but that would be wishful thinking wouldn't it? Always got to be prepared for the unexpected." Sakura grimaced and pulled away a little from Naruto, which concerned him. "That concerns you?" He asked. Sakura looked off to the side and nodded lightly.

"After what we've been through with Sasuke. The War. And every other thing that's happened since, I just what us to be left alone. To enjoy our lives with each other and not have to worry about everybody else and their problems. Be with the kids and ensure they have a happy life."

"And they will." Naruto said as he cupped Sakura hands. "No matter how old they get, they'll still have the best we can give them. Just as I do with the Village." Sakura smiled a little, but it turned into a frown shortly after as looked back to Naruto.

"That said though, Kakashi did bring up a point that … it would be the best for us to consider retirement plans now. We're not exactly young anymore, and I don't want to die when the kids are still relatively young." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Please, I'm still in good physical health with the training I do with the kids and my students."

"And when was the last time you've had a session with them?" Sakura asked with her eyebrow raised. Naruto opened his mouth and paused as he thought about it. To his surprise, he couldn't recall.

"I swear it wasn't that long ago." Naruto said as he leaned back and looked up to the skies. Sakura sighed.

"You're behind the desk on a day to day basis with the only exercise being your walk to work and back. Maybe you should consider letting Konohamaru become the next Hokage."

"That's what I've intended to do since we were kids." Naruto said.

"In a year." Sakura finished.

The space between the two was silent as Naruto processed what his wife was recommending to him. It was difficult for sure. Naruto chuckled lowly, but knew that Sakura wasn't going to let the subject go.

"After all I've done-"

"You've done this Village good during your time as the Hokage, Naruto." Sakura said. "This Village has prospered and thrived with you as its leader. Can you do more? Obviously. But maybe it's time for you to stand aside and let Konohamaru step up. It's been twenty two years since your appointment to the position. And though I've helped you maintain your diets and your lifestyle, it may not be enough. Don't you want to enjoy the time you have with your kids while they're still in the Village? Mai's already out in the world, and the other kids might follow suit."

"Are you saying that I'm not being a good father because I spend too much time at work?" Naruto asked quietly. Sakura shook her head.

"You're a wonderful father, and you make it a point to always be there for our kids and maintain our home. You have managed to balance being a leader and a parent. But with being the Hokage as well as a father, you've put so much time and effort into both. I think you're starting to become burdened by both duties and it weighs heavy on you as the years go by. I just don't want you to carry too heavy a burden that you cannot support it." Naruto sighed.

"But it's what I've done time and again. For the majority of my life, it has been the case. I've always pulled through."

"I'm just saying that it might be time to lessen the load and enjoy what you have. Take on a new team, focus on tending to the garden. Anything to fill the void of no longer being the Hokage, but with the only thing on your mind the family and yourself." Naruto looked up to the star lit sky and bit his lip.

"You ask of me to let something go that I hold dear. To create a priority for myself, I don't like the thought of it." Naruto said.

"I'm asking that you realize what you are may become too much to handle on the road ahead. Consider what I'm saying. It's just my thoughts." Sakura proceeded to lean her head into Naruto's chest as Naruto wrapped his arms around her and sighed.

"I'll heed them, Sakura." Sakura nodded.

"Thank you."

They sat there for an hour before the two of them stood up and made their way home. They would get into their room and wrap themselves in the blankets, the two next to each other as they tried to fall asleep. Soon enough, Sakura entered the steady breathing pattern she had, Naruto lied awake thinking of his discussion with his wife.

 _She has a point. I may have taken on too much I can chew._

 _But what about the Village? They need me and the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. It would be wrong to show favoritism to those of my own blood._

 _What about my family? The kids I fathered and raised with Sakura are my most precious people. I've created bonds with them that I don't want to break._

 _Can I not still maintain both as I've always had? It really hasn't been an issue. I'm still on good terms with my kids and my colleagues. What's changed?_

Naruto had these thoughts for the rest of the night as he tried to fall asleep, tossing and turning. As he neared total sleep, he heard a knock on his door.

Not a good sign.

Naruto got out of bed and pulled his black jacket over his shoulders and walked down the stairs, pulling out a kunai as he approached the door and opened it, finding one of his body guards on his door step.

"Lord Hokage." The Bodyguard said with a slight bow. "You have an emergency call by the Daimyo to take part in a group call with the other Kage. Now."

 **Author's Note:**

 **And there we have the second chapter of the story. Quite long, but when there are a bunch of characters to introduce, it's bound to happen.**

 **Some of you guys seemed to be excited with this new story, in which case I'm glad that you enjoyed it and hope that this chapter and future ones are just as good.**

 **If you enjoyed the chapter, great! If not, I hope to improve on the next one.**

 **Until next time, see ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Declaration of War

 **I do not own** ** _Naruto_** **nor the fan created character Shinachiku.** **The franchise and character belongs with its rightful owners.**

Naruto growled as he marched into his office, shrugging off his coat as he did so. Shikamaru was already inside preparing the computer and the camera for the video conference.

"What are they pissy about now?" Naruto asked as he shrugged on his white robes. "The Exams just finished up. Should be nothing to do for now." Shikamaru glanced up.

"From what I've gathered, they called the meeting in the stead of another person." He said. Naruto looked to the computer and stared at it.

 _What would be so important that would require the five of us?_

 ** _Bet you that you just jinxed yourself._**

 _Wouldn't surprise me if I did._ Naruto thought, thinking that he would need to kick himself for thinking that he was in the safe times. He proceeded to sit in his chair and guided the mouse to make a call. Naruto sat in front of the screen, waiting for the Kage to make their appearance.

Sure enough, Gaara appeared on the screen, wearing his robes and hat.

"Looks like we are seeing each other sooner than we thought." Gaara said. Naruto allowed a small smirk.

"Yeah, shame it's over a damn conference call."

"Do you two know what is going on?" Darui's voice echoed from the speaker, and a moment later, his screen came up. Gaara and Naruto shook their heads.

"From what I understand, the Daimyo were contacted by someone else to hold this meeting. But that's all I got." Gaara said. Darui hummed. Naruto sighed.

"You know, I was just going to sleep until that stupid call was made."

"Do we seriously need to listen to you complain, Lord Hokage?" Kurotsuchi's face popped up on the screen and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Great. The one person I really didn't want to see again." Kurotsuchi smirked.

"Afraid I'll show you up?"

"Tough talk for someone speaking over a call." Naruto said as he leaned back in his chair. "I could take you on with my eyes closed." Kurotsuchi's smirk faded into a scowl. Darui sighed.

"Do you two really-"

"Yes!" Naruto and Kurotsuchi replied at the same time. Darui's eyes looked at his screen between Naruto and Kurotsuchi and shook his head.

"At least save it for later." Darui muttered. Shikamaru stood next to Naruto's desk which had him glanced up. Shikamaru held up a piece of paper written on.

 **Be the mature one.** Naruto sighed and nodded. By the time he turned his head, Chojuro showed up on screen.

"I assume I'm not late? Oh … Lord Uzumaki. I would have assumed you would have been the last to show up." Naruto grinned.

"Aw, you have little faith. Even I can show up on time. You can ask Kakashi anytime, he could back me up." Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep praising yourself you arrogant ass."

"Arrogant? What about you? You parade around thinking you're the greatest Shinobi to walk the Earth!"

"Maybe because I can back up that claim."

"I'd like to see you try!"

"Enough!" Gaara said loud enough to catch the two arguing Kage's attention. They briefly glared at each other before resting back in their chairs. Naruto glanced back to Shikamaru who had another silent message for him.

 **Do I have to get Sakura in here to knock some sense in you?** Naruto felt the sweat begin to form as he looked away, shaking his head.

 ** _Cause that's the last thing you need right now. Your wife coming in to beat the shit out of you._**

 **** _She might as well do it to Kurotsuchi too._ Naruto thought.

"Have any of you contacted your Daimyo to see what the fuss is about?" Chojuro said.

"That's what we've been asking around for." Darui said, reaching for something off screen. "I would find out, but …."

"I heard that there was a contact that wanted to speak to us." Kurotsuchi said. Gaara nodded.

"That would explain the fact that the Daimyo are not present for this conference. Whatever it is, they gave their approval. Now it has to go through us."

"Could it be something serious?" Chojuro asked.

"The fact that they want to speak to the five of us, would seem to be a just assumption." Naruto said. Kurotsuchi hummed.

"But what would be serious that would require our attention. Maybe the Bijuu going out of control." Naruto shook his head.

"No. I would know about anything going wrong with them. And I would have informed you guys immediately."

"The potential of war?" Darui suggested. The other four went silent, and Naruto grimaced at the thought.

 _It's the most logical assumption. But we've already gone through a couple of brief skirmishes with the Samurai and the Guerillas. As of now, Konoha can't send out too many Shinobi. At least three hundred. A small scale war, sure._

The interruption of another appearance brought Naruto back to reality. A man about Naruto's age, wearing the attire of the Samurai, bowing to the screen.

"General Daisuke!" The Kage all said stagnated.

"Why have you called on us?" Gaara asked. Daisuke turned his eyes to the camera, Naruto noting the sorrowful expression on his face.

"My friends, I'm afraid a time has come where I need your assistance. The matter is huge, and I'm afraid it is far too big for one small country to tackle by themselves."

"Then what is the matter, General?" Kurotsuchi asks. Naruto looked on as he held his breath.

It wouldn't be good whatever Daisuke had to say. And Naruto had a feeling it is going to be what he feared.

"The world is at war. The other countries have become so big, they've announced the intentions of seizing control. Without you and your Shinobi; your Villages, as well as my home, will be taken over by them."

The surrounding noise was silent. Naruto was stunned as the words resounded in his head.

 _The world is at war._

Such a thing was far beyond Naruto's comprehension. When people find the world around them to be a threat to their existence, or for control. To expand an empire.

"Why make such a declaration though?" Darui asked as he leaned forward. "To announce it, they lose the edge of surprise."

"They're no Shinobi." Daisuke said as he grimaced. "But to call them barbarians would be an exaggeration. Soldiers across the globe, the best of the best. The element of surprise means little when declaring war."

"It means a lot for us though." Kurotsuchi said as she brought her hand to her chin, in deep thought.

"By putting ourselves onto the battle field, we'll be declaring war ourselves." Gaara pointed out. Daisuke nodded.

"Yes, but I made this call in an attempt to make an alliance with the Shinobi during this time. With my Samurai-"

"Not so fast General." Kurotsuchi interrupted. "We're not agreeing to side with you, considering what happened seven years ago."

"It's in the past, Lady Tsuchikage." Naruto pointed out. "General Daisuke is the one who has taken command of the Samurai. There's no need for you to interrupt him. He needs our help."

"And you're willing to side with those traitors, Lord Hokage?" Kurotsuchi questioned. The rest of the Kage groaned as Naruto steeled himself, briefly looking to Shikamaru who looked at Naruto expectantly. Naruto looked back to the monitor.

"They're not traitors, as we dealt with them and their leader. Daisuke was put in charge after the affair was finished. To reject a plea of assistance when the event has long passed."

"Iwa does not forget mistakes, as you have done with Sasuke Uchiha in the past." Kurotsuchi said. Naruto glared at Kurotsuchi and balled his fist.

"I have not forgotten, and Sasuke was put down when the time was right." Naruto growled. Kurotsuchi scoffed.

"Then why did it take eight years to kill the bastard?"

"I treated the man as a brother." Naruto said. "And I do my best to seek redemption out of those who lost their way. Only when I deemed it necessary, did I take down Sasuke."

"Some job you do with finding the best of the worst. Of course, even if you did redeem the bastard, I highly doubt you would be sitting where he could be now."

"You're stepping out of line, Lady Tsuchikage." Gaara finally broke into the conversation. Maintaining a level tone, though clearly simmering on Kurotsuchi's words.

"Naruto Uzumaki is the bravest man I know, who has saved myself and many others from the trappings within our darkness. To insult him and his past is pitiful for someone of our caliber. To be honest, I feel you sour the name of Kage by making such comments. While I respect your opinion concerning the Samurai, Naruto's earlier statement of the past event is the truth. The past is the past, and what matters is the future." Kurotsuchi shook her head.

"Those who fail to acknowledge history, are doomed to repeat it."

"Different circumstances for a different crisis." Naruto said, breaking his silence. "Before you decide to break communication with us for your 'pride', how about you listen to Daisuke. Whether you decide to join us or not, his information might prove to be insightful as defending against these invaders." Kurotsuchi glared at Naruto and Gaara in silence for two minutes before she nodded and leaned back in her chair.

"Speak General, so that I return to my sleep." Naruto groaned but bit his tongue as he redirected his attention to Daisuke, who cleared his throat as the attention returned to him.

"Er, yes. With the Shinobi's help, we can get to the bottom of the issue and eliminate the conspirators behind this plot. It's a matter of getting behind the enemy lines and attacking the brains of the different armies."

"Are you suggesting small teams for assassination?" Chojuro asked. Daisuke shrugged.

"Akin to that idea. But I'm recommending that our combined forces actually meet these armies head on."

"That's insane!" Darui said. "The amount of lives lost with a head on approach, it'd be suicide." Naruto nodded.

"As much as I prefer such an approach, it's not suitable for large scale engagements. Not to mention, we'd be leaving our homes without any form of protection against the invaders."

"I'm not asking for such numbers." Daisuke said, waving his hand in front of him. "I'm suggesting diversionary tactics. Something to pull the attention away from infiltration units."

The Kage were silent as they were thinking about what Daisuke had said.

 ** _What he says makes sense._**

 _Maybe so. A small team to cut through the back country as a larger force sabotages the enemy allowing for a better chance to fight back._

 ** _It will be costly._**

 **** _The sad truth is that war builds or destroys a nation. If we're going to protect our home against these guys, then what Daisuke proposes is the best course of action. The question now is-_

"How big is a small force?" Naruto questioned aloud. Daisuke shrugged.

"To be honest, I think you guys would have a better idea as to how many would need to be in an infiltration unit."

"So we're looking at three man teams." Gaara concluded. Naruto hummed as he brought his hands under his chin and thought about the pros and cons.

"Quick to move, harder to spot, easy to flee. But they lack any means of fully confronting a group of … say thirty soldiers."

"Depends on who you send out there." Chojuro pointed out. Naruto nodded as he thought of his own picks.

 _Takeshi. Mai. Maybe Shinachiku. He could definitely learn a thing or two from the two of them, and they're the best ANBU had. Almost a perfect team._

"I think three is a sufficient number." Naruto said. Daisuke nodded as Kurotsuchi scowled.

"I'm assuming you've already chosen your infiltration team, Lord Hokage." Darui said. Naruto nodded.

"My nephew, my daughter, and my son." Kurotsuchi snorted.

"You're not being clear as to which child you're sending, Uzumaki." Naruto allowed himself a bitter chuckle.

"I'm referring to Mai and Shinachiku." Naruto could almost feel the atmosphere surrounding his colleagues shift. Almost an uneasiness, especially around Kurotsuchi.

"Mai and Takeshi would definitely get the job done by themselves." Chojuro noted. Darui allowed a small laugh.

"Please, Mai could end those armies in a heartbeat. Shame she's out of the area." It was then that Gaara frowned.

"Wouldn't she be in danger since she's out and about in the world?" Naruto frowned as he connected the dots, but then shrugged off the thought.

"Mai is good enough to protect herself. I'll send a message her way and she should be back in the Village once she reads it. I highly doubt she's in the middle of the war zone. I'm not concerned yet."

"And once she gets here," Darui continued. "We'll send out your proposed team, Lord Hokage. Your choices are the best anyone has. Unless someone wishes to intervene." Kurotsuchi raises her hand, which made Naruto groan.

"No, we send out more units. Yes, the Hokage's team is the ace up the sleeve. But even aces can be countered. The rest of us will prepare our own units and send them out."

"Meaning you're on board with assisting the Samurai?" Naruto questioned. Kurotsuchi didn't give Naruto a glance.

"I will protect my Village from these intruders. And I will step into the arena. But I will not accompany the traitors. I will lead my own three man unit. My Shinobi will remain here as I take on enemy leaders. If you wish to assist your 'allies', by all means. It means little to me that when your team reaches the enemy headquarters, their corpse will hang from a rope because of me." Naruto sighed.

"Do as you wish, Kurotsuchi. Heed these words though. United we stand, divided we fall." Kurotsuchi allowed a small grin as she looked to Naruto.

"Now heed my words, nice guys finish last." With that, Kurotsuchi's feed cut and left the four Kage and General on the screen. Naruto groaned as he fell backwards into his chair.

"I don't know how people follow her." Naruto commented. Gaara sighed.

"If she didn't care for her people, she wouldn't be Kage." Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, well, doesn't need to be selfish for her own Village."

"Am I to assume the rest of you will assist my men in this conflict?" Daisuke asked. Naruto looked at the screen to read his fellow Kage's faces, who were thinking of their choice.

"You'll have my support, General." Naruto said as he rested his hand on the desk. "My Shinobi will be prepared in three daystime." Daisuke nodded.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage."

"I'll lend my support." Gaara said.

"I still have that bad taste in my mouth from that conflict we had," Darui said. "But circumstances necessitate allies. So long as my fellow Kage assist, you have my aid." Chojuro sighed.

"I'd rather not make my Village look bad by backing out. That said, I say it out of humor. I will put my men on the lines beside the Samurai." Daisuke sighed and bowed towards the Kage.

"Lord Kage, I owe you four a great debt that may never be truly paid. Your sacrifice for our cause will be praised among my men." Naruto grimaced as he thought to the upcoming trials.

"It'd be best to save the prospect of songs until after the war. We still have to survive the ordeals." Daisuke nodded.

"Of course. Is three days enough time to gather your troops?"

"I might need a little more time." Gaara said. "My soldiers aren't quite stationary. It will take some time to reorganize those that need to stay in my Village and those who will accompany me."

"Then it might be best to extend the time to a week." Daisuke said. Naruto felt his heart drop a little bit.

 _I was hoping the early time would kill any suspense. But I guess my over eagerness to get the war over and done with is more of a selfish desire._

 _ **Not that I blame you.**_

"Then we intervene in the Land of Iron in a week. I will contact you four in several days to discuss our plan of attack, as well to debrief you on what we are facing." Gaara, Chojuo, and Darui nodded. Naruto sighed.

"Until then General. Farewell."

"It is greatly appreciated what you four are doing. I will ensure your selfless actions are not forgotten." Daisuke then cut the communications as the Kage looked amongst each other before departing to prepare for the onslaught that the war would bring." Naruto was left staring at the screen before reaching for the mouse and selecting his e-mail box and composing a message.

 **Mai,**

 **I'm sure you undoubtedly know that war is brewing, and I'm going to need my best Shinobi and Kunoichi here to prepare for this world war. Return home immediately for the debriefing. I apologize in advanced for taking you away from your passion. You can tell your mother and I all about it when you get home, and hopefully this will be a quick affair so that you can go back to venturing the world once more.**

 **With all my love,**

 **Dad**

 **Author's Note:**

 **And there's the completed version of Chapter Three.**

 **A world war was something I've wanted to do for a while. Admittedly, I haven't really seen this concept on the site before, if there is, then I'm not looking hard enough.**

 **As for the kids; yeah six of them. It's a big number. Back when I started on the concept for Naruto's family in this A.U, there was only three kids. Noboru (not in a wheel chair), Yuuta and Hikari (who would have had inherited the Sharingan because of the DNA imprint). Shinachiku wasn't in my thoughts because I had yet to be introduced to the character, and I thought any number bigger than four would be too much for Naruto and Sakura to handle. I made the family bigger because I would like to think that Naruto would want to have his life filled with so many smiling faces, at least in his personal life, considering his past when he was alone.**

 **Now why is Noboru in a wheel chair, when I mentioned that he wasn't? The concept of a shinobi in a wheel chair is pretty … stupid. I do recognize that fact. And I will show how he handles himself in a fight … but not quite yet.**

 **Those were just things that a reviewer had pointed out to which had me think more critically about what I was doing and how I was going to make it. Noboru's a work in progress, just as much as the rest of his siblings. We'll see how they go from here.**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter, great! If not, sorry to disappoint.**

 **Until next time, see ya!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Divide and Conquer

 **I do not own** ** _Naruto,_** **nor the character Shinachiku. Both belong with their respective owners.**

A constant tapping echoed throughout the room as Naruto sat there with his eyes closed. His fingers moved where his body couldn't out of the fact he was holding a meeting with his comrades. He gathered himself and thought of what he was going to say for the impending war.

A quick shuffling of paper caused Naruto to open his eyes and glance towards the noise, seeing Shikamaru passing out sheets of paper to several others. Naruto groaned as he stretched his limbs. Doors would open and close, he would see familiar faces and his children come in silently, but aside from a few smiles and nods, Naruto remained quiet and focused.

"Lord Hokage." Naruto turned towards Shikamaru, who had a projector and screen at the front of the room with the remote in his hand. Naruto glanced around the room to see it in full attendance, seeing Sakura sitting beside Tsunade, who now sat in a wheelchair of her own given her age, but still looked well with her genjutsu.

Eyes turned to Naruto as he played with his hat for a moment before standing up and gesturing to the paper that sat in front of everyone.

"Good afternoon," Naruto said with a sigh. "As you can clearly see, I'm not in a happy mood. As to why … well here's the gist.

"Late last night, I was called in by the Daimyo for an emergency conference with my fellow Kage. Shortly after everyone arrived, General Daisuke of the Land of Iron contacted us to inform us of a great conflict that lies ahead."

Murmurings started to quickly spread, but Naruto raised his hand and they went silent.

"The world is at world with itself. Every country is on their own, seeking to expand beyond their borders for more land. And undoubtedly, we will be a target for many of them." Naruto casted his eyes downwards toward the paper and proceeded to pick it up.

"The Land of Iron has requested the Shinobi's assistance to combat this threat and end the war as quickly as we can."

"You're willing to side with the Samurai after what they attempted to do to us?" Kiba questioned, sitting beside Shino and Hinata. Naruto turned towards Kiba and huffed as he recalled the argument he had with the Tsuchikage.

"Yes … I am. They're under a different leadership and the issue has been resolved. I see no issues with siding with the Samurai once more." Kiba looked to retort, though a glance from Hinata and Shino had him bite his tongue as he rested his back against his chair.

"You may have already guessed that I've agreed to assist the Samurai, and three other Kage have also agreed to lend their assistance."

"I assume the Lady Tsuchikage is not one of them." Kakashi said aloud.

"You could threaten her life and she wouldn't do it." Naruto pointed out. "The rendezvous time in the Land of Iron will be in less than a week. However, we're not exactly taking an army out there, as it is too dangerous for the Village to leave so few here. Much less leaving the Genin, Chunnin, and some Jounin here." Naruto glanced over to Noboru, who was sitting on Hinata's other side. The two made eye contact before Noboru broke it, looking defeated. Naruto felt a twinge of guilt in his chest, but he pushed it aside as he looked forward once more.

"Shikamaru, the intelligence that you've gathered on our enemy?" Shikamaru nodded as he directed the group's attention towards the screen.

"The war has been in full swing for a month; numbers have thinned out, and for the most part the larger forces are looking to conquer smaller armies before combating the larger ones. In this case, it's a survival of the fittest kind of deal. This puts us in a decent edge, but undoubtedly there will be hardships to face. Certain groups have made themselves well known and we are more than likely to deal with them in the future." Shikamaru showed the next slide, featuring a cloaked man on horseback with a bow and quiver of arrows on the horse's saddle. Naruto grimaced at the sight.

"You all remember these guys from sixteen years ago, the Mongolian Archers."

"How fast was their rate of fire?" Hikari asked from a corner.

"The myth is a hundred a minute." Shikamaru said. "However, sixty is more like it. I'd say these guys are the least of our worries, given that the faster rate of fire means their accuracy is off. But who needs it when the rain of arrows fly down from the sky." He proceeded with the next slide, a dark skinned man in a loin cloth holding a short spear in his hand and a shield made from what looked like hide from a cow. Over his shoulder appeared to be another weapon.

"Zuluns." Shikamaru started. "The country they live on is large, and they don't cover the majority of its territory as some of the countries has advanced its technology to meet the standards of the world. Zuluns however make up the lack of technology with … something akin to our chakra." The shinobi in the room glanced at one another with uncertain glances, and even Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"You're telling me there is something like chakra?" Naruto questioned. Shikamaru sighed as he turned back towards the group.

"Well … if you want more to be more specific, it's just chakra. With different properties."

"But that's impossible." Tsunade said aloud, leaning forward in her wheelchair. "No one else ate the fruit that gave the Goddess chakra. How can there be chakra in other parts of the world."

"I can't quite explain it, Lady Tsunade." Shikamaru said, turning to her. "But my best theory is that such a fruit or something with a similar property to the chakra fruit exists in other places, thus giving such a gift to everyone else in the region. Curiosity did kill the cat, and humans are notorious for not holding back their curiosity as was the case with the Goddess." Tsunade crossed her arms and looked at the table in front of her.

"It's not something they can access at will as we can. Witch Doctors are the ones who evoke these abilities with certain practices and give those warriors powers. Which means that there are two factions in that group. The weapon wrapped around this warrior's shoulder is a gun. I'll get into those devils in a bit."

"Hang on." Naruto interrupted, as the group looked towards him. "If chakra exists in other parts of the world, then … what about Jinchurriki?" A collective breath in inhaled as they all looked to Shikamaru for an answer. Naruto quickly glanced towards Sakura, who looked worried at Naruto's question. Shikamaru shuffled in his spot and he looked down at the ground and was tossing the remote in his hands.

"It stands to reason that as we had Bijuus, there must be other … beings with similar powers or are classified as Bijuu. I don't know how they would do it, but I think that there are other Jinchurriki." Naruto let Shikamaru's answer sink in as he proceeded to do the same into his chair.

 _Kurama …._

 _ **Don't know what to say Kit. Admittedly, I'm as stunned as you are. If there are others like the Bijuu, then you and I may have rough times ahead of us.**_

 **** _Wouldn't you be able to feel their existence?_

 _ **You forget that the nine of us were separated from the body of the Juubi, what you could argue to be the first. However, as Shikamaru pointed out there could have been other means to acquire the power we have. Perhaps they were the first to possess chakra as the Juubi was in our corner of the world.**_

 **** _That's not good._

 _ **No shit. The next question is how many would be out there? Nine as we were? Or hundreds as many myths do exist. The only thing I can say is to be prepared for them.**_

 **** _And if they are stronger than we are united?_

 _ **Hmph … then they're like us with a broader scope of abilities. Your Rinnegan on the other hand is probably enough to handle them by yourself.**_

 ****Naruto sighed as he recalled the mutated Dojutsu he had acquired decades ago from the deceased Kamikage, Raikiri Uchiha who had passed it on to Naruto as its successor.

 _Will it be enough?_

 _ **You doubt yourself?**_

 **** _Eh … given how big this world is, you could attempt to put my claim to the test._

"Naruto." Naruto jerked his head up as he turned to the voice and saw Sakura looking at him in concern. He quickly glanced around the room to see everyone's faces towards him, to which he gave a weak grin and rubbed his head.

"Sorry, must've dozed off." Some of the Shinobi rolled their eyes, though Shikamaru, Sakura, and his children seemed to have known that Naruto had actually been in conversation. Naruto looked to Shikamaru and nodded. Shikamaru responded in kind and proceeded with the slide.

"Now we've got Spartans, a ruthlessly trained soldier." The slide featured men with bronze helmets with a black ponytail on top, a short sword and dagger at their side, two spears in hand and a medium sized shield in the other. Their armor seemed to be plated.

"They travel in groups of eight, and rely mainly on their equipment. But … similar to the Zuluns, and the next three soldiers, they have something akin to chakra." The group groaned and Naruto studied the slide.

"Death means little, as for them it means to please their gods." Shikamaru continued. "But they're not quite mobile as we are or the Zuluns."

The next slide showed three men clad in plated greaves, gauntlets, chest pieces, a sword in the hand of one. Bow and arrows on another, a wooden stick in the hand of another.

"Knights, Archers, and Wizards." Shikamaru said. "These are always three man units consisting of one of each. But there is an abundance of them that it wouldn't be safe to assume that the rule is being overlooked for the time being given current standings. Wizards are the ones who utilize their 'magic' the most and give power to their allies. That isn't to say the other two don't have tricks up their sleeves."

"Seems to give them benefits." Noboru said aloud. "The Knights close in, Archers pick off, and Wizards support."

"More or less the idea." Shikamaru nodded. "I doubt we'll ever see a solo soldier walking the wilderness and fight off a hundred foes."

"Yet I did that." Naruto said offhandedly. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and his kids groaned while Sakura huffed but allowed a small smile on her face.

"Yes Naruto. You did, but it's not like you're going to replicate that same feat again. These aren't Shinobi where you have an idea of what they can do. These are guys with powers beyond our understanding." Naruto shrugged as he gestured his aide to continue.

The next slide revealed a man wielding a thin blade, and holding a weapon grooved to fit their palms. Chest plating was apparent, as was a holster and belt lined with metal spheres.

"Duelists … more or less what the Knight, Archer and Wizard are rolled into one person with their rapiers, pistols and magic. They can fight solo or work together as a force. I guess what you can call a one man army. But they do have a tendency of wearing themselves thin. Perhaps one of the easier forces we're going to deal with. The next group on the other hand … not so much."

As Shikamaru clicked the next slide, Naruto saw a man heavily saddled with equipment and clad in camouflage, carrying what looked like an advanced gun compared to what the Zuluns had in hand.

"These are Armed Forces. One of five units within their military. Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy, mostly share the same equipment for combat. Marines will be first on the front lines before the Army shows up. Air Force utilizes flying machines to attack from the air, and the Navy uses fortress like boats to attack from a distance in the waters. These guys are the only ones who don't use a chakra like power."

"So what's the fifth unit?" Takeshi questioned in his corner. Naruto quickly glanced over his shoulder to see his nephew standing there silently. Some of his comrades looked spooked when Takeshi spoke, causing Naruto to grin a little. When he looked back to Shikamaru, Shikamaru was looking at him in the eyes with concern, which caused Naruto to give the same expression.

"What?" He asked. Shikamaru looked up to the room and looked around it for a moment.

"The fifth unit is a specialized one. Simply known as the 'A.V Class'. A. V standing for 'Anti Vessel'. They're trained to and equipped with the means to eliminate people with supernatural monsters within them. You're a prime target for them, Naruto."

The entire room quickly looked towards Naruto, and Naruto immediately looked towards his wife, concern written all over her face. Naruto looked between the slide and the table in front of him.

 _So … we've got something of an Akatsuki here._

 _ **Hm. Maybe. But if we avoid attention, then we have a chance.**_

 ****"I assume you have no clue as to whether or not they can detect Jinchurriki or not?" Naruto asked.

"It would be safe to assume they can if they've created a class for the means of eliminating them." Shikamaru said, turning off the projector. "Technology has advanced so far."

"Yet look at how far back we are." Naruto said aloud. "Take twenty, guys. We'll convene again then, I have to mull it over." Everyone proceeded to get up from their seats as Naruto walked over to the open balcony and leaned onto the railing, pondering over how he was going to split off teams. He heard footsteps behind him and join his side on the railing.

"Are you seriously considering going on this trek?" Sakura asked him. Naruto continued to stare out to the Village, listening to the echoes of passersby below the Office.

"Someone has to lead our division. And … it needs to be me."

"Did we not say that we were going to consider retirement soon?" Naruto looked to her with a tired expression. She looked back at him with a determined look.

"Sakura … can we not start on this again?" Naruto asked with slight desperation in his voice. "I've got too much to handle right now, and retirement is the least of my worries." Sakura huffed in annoyance and turned her body towards him.

"Send Konohamaru out, he knows how to lead an army. Lee, Kiba, anyone else besides you. Konoha needs you."

"You want me to stay out of trouble's sights." Naruto said as he bowed his head and let it rest on the railing. "You want me to be happy and not worry about a thing while this world wide war goes on. To keep the kids here so that they don't have to endure what we did nearly three decades ago." Naruto groaned as he picked himself back up and looked back to Sakura, both of whom had their eyebrows narrowed in concentration on their discussion.

"I want to, you know. God do I want to protect you and the kids from harm's way to make sure not a scratch grazes your skin or the kids. But you know better than I do that it can't be done that way." Sakura looked off to the side and downwards, closing her eyes.

"Naruto … the vows we gave to one another on our wedding day, I swore to protect you from the evils of the world so that you wouldn't ever be hurt again. During Sasuke's Revolution, I vowed to make your life the happiest it's ever been, to always be by your side. After Noboru was born, I swore to be a good mother for them. A good wife for you. I just want the best for you all." Naruto looked at her for a few moments before he sighed as reached over to wrap his arms around her, digging his face into her hair.

"My love, you always have been the best. Perfect for our family. But I don't want you to burden yourself to the point that you've taken on too much. That's what I'm there for." Sakura shook her head.

"But I don't want you to hurt yourself as you did years ago." Naruto smiled a little.

"Sakura, it wasn't all bad." Sakura broke free from Naruto's embrace and maintained the same look she had moments ago.

"You sacrificed your own happiness just so that I could be happy. It hurt you that you went above and beyond to put a smile on my face. To bring Sasuke back. To stay alive so that you could come back and be with me. Your life has been nothing but burdens. I just don't you to carry anymore of it." Naruto looked on in silence before staring up to the Monument, looking to his dad's face.

"Well, I am the Hokage. I swore to protect the Village, and I'm going to do that by ending this conflict." He looked back to Sakura, who stared at the ground once more.

"When will it all end?" She questioned. Sakura looked back to Naruto and wrapped her arms around herself. "When will I not have to worry about you getting killed out there?" Naruto shrugged and stepped forward, towering her and giving her a small smile.

"When the world stops finding things for me to resolve." Sakura rolled her eyes and looked up to him.

"And if it doesn't?" Naruto chuckled.

"It will. We just need to put forth the effort." Naruto clapped her arm proceeded to walk back into the building until Shikamaru, Tsunade, Kakashi, Takeshi, and a couple of Anbu walked out. Naruto raised an eyebrow as Shikamaru extended a piece of paper towards him, a look of regret on his face.

"Lord Hokage, Sakura, it pains me to hand you this now … but you need to read it." Naruto looked at the group and turned to his wife who shared the same look on his face before Naruto took the paper and proceeded to read it, as Sakura looked over his shoulder.

 **To Naruto Uzumaki,**

 **Last night, we received your message concerning your daughter's return to your 'Village'. You will find to your dismay that she won't be making the return trip home, as we are holding her captive in the heart of our country. As of now, we are torturing her in the most delightful ways to get what we need out of her, and you may find that she won't have much time left before we decide to kill her off once we have what we need. We know who you are, Nanadaime Hokage of Konohagakure, and we assume that you will be coming out to play in the upcoming war.**

 **Any attempts made by you or your comrades to rescue her or kill our men will result in her premature death. I give her little less than two weeks before we finish her off.**

 **The Duelists Army**

Needless to say that the letter fell from Naruto's hand. Naruto felt paralyzed, and he couldn't move.

"You two need to think this through before you charge after Mai." Shikamaru said **.** Naruto realized then that Shikamaru had restrained himself and Sakura in place to prevent them from moving. Try as Naruto could, the bonds didn't break. He glared to Shikamaru.

"Bastard, let me go or,"

"Or what Naruto?" Shikamaru asked. "You'll fire me? Go ahead. But at least hear us out."

"It's bad as it is that there's a war going on." Kakashi started. "But you need to remember that you're the Hokage of this Village."

"My daughter's out there getting tortured." Sakura growled through her teeth. "And you expect me to be calm about it?"

"Remember what I taught you Sakura." Tsunade spoke up. "Control your emotions, you're letting them get the better of you. If they see you going after them, they'll kill her."

"Naruto." Shikamaru turned to his superior. "We know what you want to do, and by god, we would let you do it. But circumstances are different from what they are now, and we simply can't let this opportunity go to waste. Konoha needs you." Naruto struggled once more against his restraints.

"And I have to sit here and do nothing? That's my daughter!" He yelled at the group.

"And she's a Kunoichi." Tsunade said, folding her hands into her lap. "Each of your children swore to protect the Village with their lives, as you two did when you were their age. We cannot let the life of one person get in the way of the Village's safety. You know that better than anyone, Naruto. Your parents gave their life for the Village and you. The Sandaime Hokage did it for the Village, as did my grandfather and great uncle." Naruto felt his tears start to build up as he recalled every memory he had of her and just broke down, defeated as he was held down by his advisors.

"Just let me save her." Naruto whispered. "She's my blood, my kin, I can't let her die because I have to be the leader during a time of crisis."

"That's merely how it goes Naruto." Shikamaru said. Naruto pulled his lips back and looked up to the group.

"Shut up!" He shouted. "It's not that you are experiencing what I'm going through right now! I've already lost Shin! I'm not going to lose Mai either!" Naruto resume his efforts into breaking free of his bonds.

"Naruto!" Kakashi shouted. "We're not going to let it happen. I'm going after her." Naruto slowly diminished his struggle as he looked to his Sensei, his eyes tired and weary, and yet determined by the words he said.

"It's our job." Sakura said angrily. "We swore to protect our children." Kakashi raised his hand to silence her.

"Yes, but both of you are needed to lead the division. I'm going because I'm retired, and you can't officially tell me to stay where I am. That said, I would like some company to help me in my travels … say Shinachiku and Aimi." Now Naruto was confused.

"But …"

"This way, the two of them won't need to see the war." Kakashi started. "With me, Shinachiku will learn a few things and Aimi can help keep me from losing my edge dealing with him. The boy still needs training, and I can provide that for him." Naruto had to collect himself before thinking of what Kakashi said.

A three man team would slip under the radar, and given that he is Kurama's Jinchurriki, they would undoubtedly see him and Sakura coming. Kakashi, Shinachiku and Aimi would slide under the radar well. Naruto growled as he tried to think of another way. Kakashi shook his head.

"Naruto, Sakura … Don't worry about Mai. We'll get there before they kill her." Naruto went silent for a moment before he looked to Sakura, who had her eyes closed, face streaked in years. He bit his lip and looked back to Kakashi, sighing once more out of defeat.

"Please Kakashi, do what you can." He could hear Sakura raise her head and look to them. Kakashi nodded, offering a smile beneath his mask.

"You have my word, Naruto, Sakura. I'll go prepare for my venture." Kakashi proceeded to jump from the balcony towards the streets. Naruto casted his eyes downwards as he felt the pressure go away, collapsing to his knees.

"We'll be sitting down in ten." Shikamaru said aloud as he turned back to the room. Tsunade and Takeshi watched the two parents for a moment before they too left their vicinity. The agents remained where they were as Naruto and Sakura remained where they were.

"Must we?" Sakura asked Naruto.

"Do we have a choice?" He replied. "We … have to have faith. Kakashi will bring them back." He said this aloud, but he wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Sakura, or himself.

 **Author's Note:**

 **And we step closer to getting to the War. What is in store, time will tell.**

 **Similar to the previous story, I intend for there to be different perspectives. Where there was six last time (Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Sasuke, Karin, and Shikamaru), it'll just be four this time around (Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and the last one I'll be quiet for until we get to their chapter but you may have already guessed who it's going to be).**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter, great! If not, sorry to disappoint.**

 **Until next time, see ya!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Expectations

 **I do not own** ** _Naruto,_** **nor the character Shinachiku. Both belong with their rightful owners.**

"Here's the equipment you'll have for the trip. Standard flak jacket with the essentials in it, soldier pills, shurikens, kunai, first aid kit, smoke pellets. Backpack with a cloak for extreme weather conditions. Sleeping mat, tent, food kit, flare for emergencies. Rations from us that should cover you for a week. The Samurais however will be providing rations after that. Clothing repair kit, wire pieces for close communication with battery packs as well. Once again, Samurai's will be replacing those as well. Lord Hokage will be the only one who has the communication set between Konohagakure and himself. Any questions?"

Naruto sat through the rest of the meeting as Shikamaru went over the details of the equipment for the journey ahead. He wasn't quite paying attention as he was thinking of his selected team.

Sakura, Yuuta, Hikari, and Takeshi would be going, along with Shino Aburame; Rock Lee, Ten Ten and their son Daichi; Sai; Hiraku, Kiyoko, and Suzume, Naruto's first Genin team; Shikamaru's daughter Shikayasu and Sakura's former student Osamu. All of the above were selected on the fact that they were trained to endure harsh elements in the midst of battle. Sakura, Shino, Rock Lee, Sai and Naruto all having been in several engagements in the past, the rest in a few but were still better than many others for consideration.

As Naruto had expected from two of his sons, he heard their backlash on why they should be on their father's handpicked team. Noboru debated on his adaptability to every scenario handed to him since he had joined the Shinobi, and Shinachiku argued on the basis that he was ready and willing to kill those that came in their paths, now a fully realized Chunin.

"You both are good at what you do." Naruto said when he sat them down. "However, both of you were not chosen on certain circumstances. Noboru, you are one of the most talented Shinobi I have seen. Given your circumstances many others would have given up out of the fact that they cannot move. But that's the reason why, we are going to be on the move a lot. And we can't have you on our backs all the time. As much as I hate to say it son, you'll become a liability, despite what I have told you and your teammates years ago to never leave a man behind. I'm not taking the risk. As for you Shinachiku, you still have a lot to learn. Just because I'm Hokage doesn't make me the best. You need to be brought back down to Earth so that you can see what the world truly is. You are strong, but I held you back from promotion for a reason. So that you would learn from your mistakes and look around your surroundings. Your focus is narrow, and not broad enough for you to be on the frontlines. For that I send you with Kakashi and your sister."

While neither liked the reasons their father gave them, Noboru agreed to his father's reasoning while Shinachiku muttered about not having his potential truly realized.

Konohamaru had agreed to stay behind to act as the substitute Hokage, with Tsunade acting as his advisor. Shikamaru would remain behind with his teammates and help protect the Village along with the other acting Shinobi. Naruto felt comfortable in the idea that Konoha would be safe, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't concerned for its safety.

As for Kakashi and his two other team members, Naruto still felt iffy about sending off his two youngest with his retired Sensei.

For that reason, Naruto decided to drop by Kakashi's apartment afterwards. Walking up the steps of the complex and knocking on Kakashi's door.

"It's been awhile since you've come by here." Naruto turned around and saw Kakashi behind him, standing on the rail with groceries in hand.

"Needed to talk to you." Naruto simply said. Kakashi looked a little longer before he hopped off and reached into his pocket for his keys.

"I assume about my mission?" He questioned.

"I'm just … not sure I want to send Shinachiku, much less Aimi on this kind of mission." Naruto said aloud, following him into the hallway. Kakashi kicked out his shoes and proceeded into his home, turning into the kitchen.

For a single man, this was what Naruto assumed life would have been like for Kakashi. It was neat, everything put in its place. A living room nearby with merely a couch with a small table with papers piled in stacks, a pen nearby. Of course, Naruto knew that it wasn't the case when his Sensei was raising Takeshi as an infant.

"I still wonder how you did it." Naruto muttered. Kakashi turned with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry?" Kakashi asked. Naruto broke out of his daze and waved his hand.

"Nothing, just thinking." Kakashi looked at Naruto a moment longer before he hummed and turned to pulling out his groceries for his meal.

"Think of it like our mission to Wave Naruto." Kakashi said. Naruto grunted with no amusement.

"We weren't at war." Naruto countered. Kakashi pulled out a cutting knife and inspected the edge.

"You three were Genin on an A – Rank mission, dealing with a rouge nin, his student, and then there was the matter of a mafia."

"But Kakashi, you were there." Naruto said. Kakashi nodded.

"And I swore that you three weren't going to die by my watch. Both of your kids are Chunin. Both can take care of themselves. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if Aimi resigned afterwards. The only ones I'm concern about are Mai and Shinachiku." Naruto felt a chill run over his body with the mention of Mai, and he shook it off as best he could.

"Shina's mentality is going to give you problems." Naruto noted. Kakashi nodded as he proceeded to cut up vegetables.

"Stubborn like his parents. I guess he inherited that from the both of you."

"It doesn't add up though." Naruto said as he proceeded to in a chair, loosening his headband and placing it beside him. "He was never like that when he was growing up. And then a few years after he hits the Academy, small changes in his behavior." Kakashi hummed as he brought out a pot and filled it with water.

"Nothing similar happened with your other kids?" Kakashi asked, moving the filled pot over to the stovetop. Naruto shook his head.

"Nothing to his degree. Mai had her moments as well as Yuuta. But they grew out of it quick. This has been a lingering thing." Kakashi went over to his fridge and pulled out a raw chicken, proceeding to cut the meat from the bone.

"Mai knew she can get out of Konoha. Yuuta pushed himself to be a hero of the Leaf like you. Maybe Shinachiku is feeling trapped here." Naruto frowned as he brought his hand to his chin.

"What would he be trapped by though?" Naruto questioned. Kakashi looked to Naruto with his scarred eye, and Naruto traded a glance with him before he felt a wave wash over him.

"Me?" Naruto questioned. Kakashi turned back to his chicken, picking at the bones and tossing them into the trash.

"It's one of those, 'yes and no' answers." Kakashi explained as he chopped his chicken into tiny pieces. "Nothing that you've said, Naruto. But your influence on the Village, the World. They're big shoes to fill, and I've noted in the past that the new generation exceeds the old in some way shape or form. It's something that Noboru, Yuuta, Hikari, and Mai wish to fulfil, by becoming stronger than you." Naruto sighed as he covered half his face with his hand.

"It's not something I wished upon them." Naruto said. "It's just something that happened."

"I know you didn't mean any harm Naruto." Kakashi said as he pulled out some seasonings and inspected them. "But that's the price of being the children of a powerful Shinobi. Either your kids will overcome the limit, or they will be shunned by society for not putting enough effort into surpassing expectations. Life is cruel in that aspect, but you know that better than most."

Naruto left Kakashi's apartment with his teacher's words ringing in his head. It hurt him when he thought of how his reputation may have truly been hurting his kids since they were born.

He returned home and walked into the kitchen, seeing a plate had been set aside for himself. He could hear chatter going on in the floor above, but he didn't call out. He felt ashamed.

He sat alone while picking at his meal, finishing it eventually before he cleaned his plate and proceeded to Noboru's room, knocking on the door and hearing a response on the other side. Naruto opened the door and saw his son bench pressing weights, his legs dangling other the other end of the seat. He saw his son pick his head up, before resting the weight onto its support and pushing himself up to see his father.

"What's up?" Noboru asked, reaching over to his side stand and picking up his glasses. Naruto gave his son a small smile.

"Just … checking up on you. Still working out?" Noboru grinned as he flexed, displaying to his father the years of harsh training he had put into building his body.

"Not quite to Yuuta's standing, but I'm getting there. Of course, I can get him at everything else." Naruto chuckled as he proceeded to sit on his son's bed. Noboru reached out to his wheelchair and picked his entire body up and settled in.

"Are you still bummed out that I didn't pick you for my Team?" Naruto asked. Noboru shrugged as he wheeled in pace.

"Eh, I've gotten over it Dad. I don't blame you in the long run. Besides, I've helped out in the other skirmishes. Guess you can say that my talents are needed elsewhere." Naruto nodded as he took a good look at his son. Noboru raised an eyebrow as he stopped wheeling in place.

"Something wrong?" Naruto shook his head and reached his hand over to grasp his son's shoulder.

"I just want you to know I'm extremely proud of you." Naruto said. "Given your circumstances, people would have given up, and you didn't. You pushed yourself beyond what is expected of a Shinobi. I remember holding you when you were born, and Tsunade told me that you may never get to use your legs. It tore your mother's heart and mine a lot. But … somewhere deep inside, I knew that you were going to push through it. Not because you're an Uzumaki or you were my son. But because you wanted to. I'm just expressing my joy of you living, and … I hope that my past never forced you onto it. Because I think you would still be as great as you are now whether I was your father or not." Noboru looked on as his father shed a few tears. Naruto flashed his son a smile and clapped his shoulder a few times as he got up and proceeded to walk out of his room. He closed the door and stood there for a moment, letting a few tears fall before he wiped them away and went to walk up the stairs, glancing at the pictures that hung on the wall of the earlier years with his family.

First door on the right, Naruto knocked, and heard Aimi's voice. Naruto peeked in and saw his daughter on her bed, with a sketch book laid out in front of her, hair released of their pony tails.

"Didn't Mom say you might have to cut your hair before you go on your mission?" Aimi sat up as she pouted, crossing her arms and looking away.

"She did. But I spent years on growing out my hair. Would be a shame if I cut it now." Naruto approached her bed and ruffled his daughter's hair, eliciting a laugh from her as Naruto knelt in front of her bed.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked. Aimi picked up her book and showed her father some sketches she had been drawing. The one she was showing him was of the entire family. Naruto admired his daughter's art, though he'd be lying if he said it was perfect.

"You should ask Sai to teach you how to draw." Naruto remarked. "Then you can turn your creations into living things." Aimi sighed.

"Yeah, but my drawings wouldn't be like the real things. Like you or Mom." Naruto felt his heart clench as he listened to his daughter's words, nodding as he gently pried the book from his daughter's hands, taking one of her pens as he turned to a clean page and started to draw to the best of his ability.

The process took several minutes while Aimi watched. Eventually, Naruto revealed his creation, which was an academy level of drawing. Aimi laughed.

"Maybe you're the one who needs lessons in how to draw." She noted. Naruto laughed as well.

"Well, I'll ask Sai once I come home. But let's think about it for a moment. You should keep all of your drawings, so that when you do become a great artist, you can show everyone your progress. How you learned from your mistakes." Aimi smile went bigger and turned it into a grin that resembled her father's.

"Then I'll definitely keep this one for the history books. How the Nanadaime Hokage can't draw." Naruto smirked as he got up and kissed his daughter's head.

"Oh, and how the world will turn on me to laugh and jeer at my pathetic attempts to make art." Naruto allowed his smile to stay on his face and he proceeded to walk out of his room.

"Hey Dad." Naruto turned around to look at his daughter.

"Yeah, kiddo?" Aimi picked up her book and hugged it to her chest.

"Thanks for the drawing. It's a masterpiece that I'll keep forever." Naruto looked at his daughter a little longer before he flashed her his grin and a thumbs up."

"I'm glad that you like it sweetie." Naruto lowered his hand and proceeded to close his door. He stayed there for a moment, relishing having been in his daughter's personal ray of sunlight. He then walked past a couple of doors before reaching Shinachiku's room. Music blaring once more, and Naruto steeled himself as he knocked the door out of habit. Though as he proceeded to reach for the doorknob, the music stopped and heard a response.

Opening the door, Naruto saw Shinachiku sitting at his desk once again with some kind of machine in his hand. Naruto didn't bother sitting down, knowing full well that his son didn't like it. Instead leaning on the doorframe.

"Are you switching me over to your Team?" Shinachiku asked. Naruto huffed.

"You're starting to make me regret accepting Kakashi's proposal, Shina." Shinachiku rolled his eyes.

"And even if he didn't ask for me to be on the retrieval team?" he asked. Naruto narrowed his eyes to his son.

"With the attitude you're giving me, I wouldn't give you a mission to escort the Daimyo's wife, much less a mission that involved anything above that. I'd still have you pulling weeds and painting fences." Shinachiku's eyes widened as he got up quickly and walked towards his father.

"My talents are better than that sort of bull shit." He remarked. Naruto grunted.

"You talk as if you've fought S – Rank rouges." Naruto replied. "Fought wars and skirmishes like your older siblings have, or were Sasuke Uchiha. But I know better than that. And so do you." Shinachiku bared his teeth and cocked his fist back. Though in a quick blur, Shinachiku was flat on his butt with a bruise starting to quickly form on his face. Naruto felt a slight sting on the back of his left hand, sighing as he back out of the room.

"Your attitude is going to get you killed." He said as rubbed his hand. "And I hope to never see you in a body bag because you couldn't control your temperament." Naruto closed the door and walked away as quick as he could. His head low in shame at what he did, despite trying to tell himself that Shinachiku deserved what he got.

His conversation with Kakashi came back to him.

 _He's right. Shina's developed an ego bigger than himself. And it's going to be his hubris._

He walked into his room and heard the sound of cutting in the bathroom. Naruto proceeded to walk over and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Sakura's voice projected from the other side. Naruto opened the door and saw Hikari with a pair of scissors in her hand, and his wife with her hair being cut. Naruto pursed his lips as he recalled their days as Genin.

"I assume for the mission?" Naruto asked. Sakura looked to Naruto through the mirror. She was looking a little pale, dark shadows under her eyes, Naruto guessed that it was because of Mai's capture that she was losing sleep.

"Yeah." Sakura simply answered, motioning her daughter to continue cutting. Hikari briefly glanced at her father before he nodded and backed out of the room and proceeded to sit on his bed.

It took another five minutes before Hikari walked out of the room and to her own, Naruto heard water rushing in the bathroom as Sakura was taking a shower.

Eventually, the water stopped, and Sakura would step out with a towel wrapped around her body. Naruto glanced at her for a moment before he turned around and gave her privacy.

"As if anything has changed between us." Sakura pointed out aloud. Naruto sighed.

"Maybe I'm lost in thought." Naruto countered. "Or I've seen you nude plenty of times that it really doesn't matter whether I look at you or not." He heard a snort from Sakura.

"Are you saying my body isn't what it used to be?" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Please, I still make it a habit of worshipping you. I doubt that'll ever change." He didn't hear a response, but felt pressure on his back as Sakura draped her body over him. Naruto lifted his head and looked up to Sakura, seeing her hair cut down to a length similar to what it had been in their adolescence. He proceeded to run his fingers through her hair.

"Talk about memories." Naruto muttered. Sakura sighed as she went limp on his shoulder.

"It's not that different to what they were then." Sakura pointed out as she pushed herself off. Naruto shuffled off his coat and tossed it aside, doing the same to his other garments and getting under the sheets, with his plated gauntlet left on his arm. Sakura glanced to it.

"Do you need some relief from that?" She questioned. Naruto looked at it again before he nodded, removing the plates and the bandaging under that to reveal his pink arm. Cool air rushed over, and Naruto applied pressure to his arm, feeling the burn come again.

"Those flames must a cursed or something." Naruto said as Sakura brought on her green aura and covered his arms with it.

"They weren't ordinary flames." Sakura said, shifting her hand to another spot.

"Tell me something I don't know." Naruto muttered. He turned his arm to allow Sakura to relieve the other side. "Have you been sleeping well?" Naruto questioned. There, he felt a surge of chakra pulse from her hand before Sakura regained control.

"No." She answered. Naruto nodded.

"Is it Mai?" He asked. Sakura nodded. "And the rest of the kids." Sakura ceased her healing and positioned herself to her side of the bed. Naruto looked on in sorrow, knowing full well that it was hurting her.

"I know I say it enough," Naruto said quietly. "But … don't worry about the kids Sakura. We'll be in and out of this war in no time." Sakura didn't respond to her husband's words, and Naruto didn't feel hurt that there was a lack of one. He simply reached over to his lamp and turned the light out, settling in on his side of the bed, relishing the few days he would get to enjoy it before he and his Team would march across the world to stop the biggest threat he's faced since Sasuke.

The night would pass, and Naruto stayed awake the entire night in the hopes that the next day would not come, and that he was in a nightmare. But his wife would wake up and push her husband awake to stir him from his slumber. Or what was supposed to be slumber.

It was the first night since Naruto had been with Sakura that he didn't sleep.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Yeah … don't quite know what to say about this chapter.**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter, great!** **If not, sorry to disappoint.**

 **Until next time, see ya!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Departure

 **I do not own** ** _Naruto_** **, nor the character Shinachiku. Both belong with their respective owners.**

Day of departure. And Naruto was up way before the rest of his family.

His thoughts stirred him at every hour, uneasiness of the mission prominent. So he got up and went to the restroom, turning on the lights and staring into the mirror at his unkempt hair. He looked to the scissors on the counter that remained in its place since Sakura had cut her hair several nights ago. Hovering his hand over the tool, he came to a decision. And moments later, Naruto took out the clippers he used over the years, brought out the attachment he desired, and proceeded to cut his hair.

 _It'll get in the way._ He reasoned, grazing the electronic near his ear. _Last thing I need is to get it caught aflame._

He continued his task, resting the tool onto the counter once it was finished as Naruto admired his handiwork. The bangs still present and the hair at what he considered to be a reasonable length. All these years, he still thought cutting it short would have made him look ridiculous. He recalled his mission years ago with Kakashi and Sakura to find Sasuke for the last time, and how long his hair had been then. Half of it had been singed with his bout against Sasuke, and it was several weeks later when Sakura had cut it.

How peaceful the times were after Sasuke's Revolution. And now they were in another conflict.

He took his shower, the last one he might have, and left the restroom. Seeing Sakura no longer in her spot on the bed, Naruto pulled out his gear and proceeded to dress into the attire.

Though the rest of his team would dress identically in the standard uniform, Naruto refused to do the same. Noting that green really only looked good on Sakura and the nature surrounding the village. The flak jacket would be the only exception to the rule, funny considering he's never worn one in his entire career.

He wore a collared black long sleeved shirt, form fitting to reduce the snag Naruto could experience. And his orange pants were added on to the attire. The dumbest decision Naruto has made in a while, but orange simply was part of his character, he could almost call it a trademark. Black boots tied on, and Naruto put on a plain black short sleeved jacket. If he couldn't put on his black and orange or his white and red, then he'll have to compromise and go with a singular color. He fitted his right arm with the proper protective plating, and his headband was the last thing to go on.

Naruto picked it up, thinking of all the times he's worn it. Tied it to his forehead. Lost it in the midst of battle. Replaced the cloth and repaired the metal. He's held it as a personal treasure since Iruka had given it to him.

Being a shinobi was more than wearing the headband.

"It's about fighting and protecting for what you believe in." Naruto muttered as he brought his hitate up to his forehead and tied it around his head, tightening it to his satisfaction. He looked into the mirror as he brought his hands down.

In the mirror across the room, Naruto saw a shinobi. Not himself, not the Hokage, a shinobi. He sighed as he broke his gaze and left the room, walking down the steps as quiet as he could. Rounding the corner, and saw Sakura sitting at the table with something in her hands. Naruto walked into the kitchen without saying a word to his wife, looking through the fridge for anything to eat.

"You cut your hair." Sakura noticed. Naruto nodded as he pulled out the milk and checked the expiration date.

Still good.

"Same reasons you did." Naruto said as he pulled out a cup and poured himself a glass. "I don't need a hair covered in flames. My epitaph doesn't need to say 'Died in a flaming glory'." This elicited a chuckle out of Sakura, to which it lightened Naruto a little.

 _Just gotta keep her spirits high. We can get through this._ Naruto reached into the cabinets for some cereal and poured himself a bowl, taking the carton of milk and pouring it over his breakfast.

He joined Sakura and proceeded to eat in silence. Neither said a word, and eventually Sakura got up to take her turn in the shower. Naruto was left at the table, a finished bowl of cereal sitting in front of him.

There was so many things going on in his head. Mai's fate. The Village's fate. The likelihood of Kakashi, Shinachiku, and Aimi coming back with Mai. The survivability of his kids making it out of the war unscathed. His and Sakura's chance of walking out alive. It was driving him insane.

 _I can save Mai if I just abandon this mission._

 _Mai can take care of herself. Kakashi is not going to let us down._

 _The Village needs me to stay and protect them from any hostile threats._

 _Fate of the world is also in peril. Am I willing to just abandon it?_

 _What about my family? I can just whisk them away and never be bothered by the world or the Village ever again._

 _I need to go on this mission. People are counting on me._

These thoughts plague Naruto as they did nights before. He raked his hands through his hair in annoyance. Wanting them to go away and leave him be.

"I don't get how you do it." Hikari's voice rang through Naruto's mind. He turned his head to see his daughter standing near the stove boiling some water, glad he now had a distraction. Chuckling with a sheepish grin, Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"Soldier on, I guess." Naruto said as he watched Hikari nod and pull out a tea cup.

"I mean, given the like of the Mongols and the Samurai uprising, not to mention the Fourth War. I would have thought you would have stayed back this time." Naruto's grin faded into a frown as he looked off to the side.

"It's not quite simple for me to stand back and watch others go to war. I need to be out there to be a leader. At least I can make an impact out there rather than here." Hikari turned with an expression matching her father's.

"You can still lead if you're here." She pointed out. Naruto shrugged.

"Honestly, I'm not concerned for the Village's safety for the time being. Not until they get closer to the country will I be concerned. But out there? I'll be of better help."

"But the Mongols-"

"Have dealt with us before." Naruto interrupted. "Konohamaru knows what he's doing." Hikari pursed her lips and resumed with making her tea.

"If given the chance, would you have kept us from going out there?" Hikari asked.

"Absolutely." Naruto said without hesitation.

"Even if that's what we wanted?" Naruto grunted as he pushed his finished bowl aside.

"I'll be honest with you Hikari. As a father, I want what is best for you and your siblings. However, it pains me when I see you guys go off on your own. Because of my childhood, I want to try and make up for lost time by being there as your grandparents couldn't for me. There are days that I'd be willing to go back in time and deal with the struggles of raising all of you again, just so that I can relish in being your dad. All six of you are great shinobi and kunoichi, and your mother and I are proud to see that you guys worked hard to achieve that. Would I say that we wanted any of you to become Shinobi? No. The lifestyle is a hard one. But for what you've given to the Village, we can easily say that we're proud of all of you." Hikari had remained where she was and took in what her father was saying, finally turning her head and giving him a smile. One that definitely belonged to her mother.

"We'll pull through this Dad." Hikari promised. "Somehow we manage." Naruto sighed as he bent his head down.

"Somehow indeed." He muttered. She poured her cup and proceeded to leave the kitchen, leaving Naruto alone once again. He got himself up from his chair and walked out to the living room, grabbing his bag and taking one good look at the interior of his home. Something he tended to do whenever he left to lengthy periods of time. After that, he went through the front door and didn't look back at his home, making way for the gates.

Kakashi was there early, his travel garb on and his pack nearby and reading a book. He didn't have his headband though, but Naruto didn't think too much on it. Just seeing his former teacher ready for travel was enough to bring back memories.

"The report time isn't for another hour." Kakashi said without glancing up. "But if those two wished to head out earlier than that …." Naruto chuckled bitterly.

"They weren't up when I woke. And I was up before Sakura." Kakashi spared Naruto a glance.

"Nerves?" He questioned. Naruto nodded, turning his head towards the Hokage Monument, looking at his predecessors' faces.

"Wonder if they had the same problems?" Naruto said aloud.

"Every leader does. Part of the job." Kakashi stated. Naruto grunted in amusement.

"That makes seven of us." They stood there in silence, waiting for more of his team to show. Takeshi arriving first and giving his greeting to his uncle before walking off to the side. Next was Osamu, Sakura's former apprentice. Short black hair, green eyes, and a thin face, his brow narrowed in focus. His stature was slightly on the heavy side, though Naruto knew that he was more nimble than one would assume, giving the early thirty year old an advantage on the battlefield.

He approached Naruto bowed toward his superior.

"Lord Hokage." He greeted politely. Naruto nodded.

"Osamu. Ready for the journey ahead?" The young man looked up to his leader before looking off to the side.

"I don't think anyone is ever ready for something like this." He said quietly. "I merely fear of what will happen to my family if I were to die. Or worse, anything happen to them." Naruto looked on at his wife's student, looking up to the sky.

"Losses are to be expected, Osamu. I'm not guaranteeing that any of us are going to come out of this ordeal alive. But that's why you're here with us. You're Sakura's best student, and your performance during the Samurai's Uprising proves you have the knowhow for this task, and can help save many lives. I know you will do your best. And I apologize for having you to do this. There are few others with your skill." Osamu smiled a little and shook his head.

"Lord Uzumaki, you do as any leader would do. For that I cannot blame others but myself. I chose to become a Shinobi, a medic by extension, to help stave death away. Though it is to be expected later on in life, I made it my goal. I will do the best of my ability to ensure our team does not fall." Naruto looked on at his subordinate and sighed.

"Those are good words to have, Osamu. But … ugh, never mind. I forgot who taught you." With that, Osamu grinned and clapped Naruto on the shoulder.

"Sakura Sensei taught me well, Lord Hokage. And from what I gathered, she had two people to learn from." Osamu proceeded to walk away from Naruto and spotted Takeshi nearby. Naruto watched him go, smiling a little at the fact he thinks he picked good teammates.

"Be sure to listen to Lord Hokage."

"Yeah."

"Keep a level head."

"It's not my first mission, Mom."

"Ugh, listen to your mother so that I don't have to hear about it after you depart."

"Whatever Dad." Naruto turned his head, seeing Temari and Shikamari behind their daughter Shikayasu, her black hair that had formally hung past her shoulder blades was now short, revealing her face, which matched her father's expression of lax annoyance. Naruto grinned as he waved towards the three.

"Seems like every one wants to head out early." Naruto said to Shikamaru.

"Not the case, Lord Hokage." Shikayasu said as she approached Naruto and bowed before him. "Nerves have the tendency of getting people pumped full of adrenaline in which case they want to ease. This is simply a means to relieve some of them." Shikamaru rolled his eyes as Temari smirked.

"Which is why you're here." Naruto said as he crossed his arms. "Because you're better off suited for these kind of missions."

"You need my father here to help protect the Village." Shikayasu said in a droned voice, placing her hands on her hips. "While I don't doubt my capabilities as a tactician, my father is leagues beyond my own understanding of the battlefield." Shikamaru spared a glance at his daughter.

"The new exceeds the old, child." Shikamaru says as he moves himself in front of her. Shikayasu has to look up a little to exchange glances. "The battlefield is the best place to develop new strategies and the like. You will find new things that I wouldn't have even thought of."

"And if I don't?" Shikayasu questioned. Shikamaru shook his head and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Know that you will. Battles can be won with both new and old strategies. There is no shame in utilizing your resources. That is what the best is made of. Taking from the old and molding it into something new." Shikayasu and her father maintained eye contact for a while before Temari coughed to catch their attention.

"While you two are having your battle of the minds, I'd like to say something as well kiddo." Shikayasu spared her mother a glance as Shikamaru took a step back and watched the two women in his family speak.

"Unlike your old man here, take whatever chances you have. There isn't enough time in the world to think of every damn possibility for a single action. You're better off doing that on a mountain with no distractions. Find the simplest solution and seize it. There are no times for hesitation." Shikayasu gazed at her mother for a moment longer before she said and nodded her head. Shikamaru grunted and turned to Naruto.

"I leave her in your hands, Naruto." He said. Naruto sighed as he looked towards other members of his team as they slowly approached the entrance.

"Her and the rest of them." Naruto muttered as he went over to the gate.

Minutes passed as other members showed up, Rock Lee, Ten Ten and their son standing in the middle of the path, Daichi, the mirror splitting image of his father, seemingly embarrassed by his father's current antics, but Naruto could see the admiration the son had for his father.

His first team showed up, all three young loud mouthed adults with grins spread across their faces. Hiraku, the only male of his first Genin team, speaking his mind as he saw fit and not afraid to say anything regardless of consequences. Brown haired, small eyes matching the color of his hair and narrow nose, his mouth seemed to always be open, even in his sleep. He stood slightly shorter than his other two teammates, though he never cared. Suzume was very thin, sporting her long red hair and bright blue eyes, an attitude very much similar to Hiraku if not slightly less loud. Kiyoko was of a medium build with black hair and eyes, and probably the least obnoxious of her teammates, who laughs hard, but knew when to back off.

The three approached Naruto as he stood there with his arms crossed with a small smile.

"You're actually here before we are!" Hiraku exclaimed as he pointed his finger at his sensei's face, too close for Naruto's liking as he sighed and slightly pushed his student's finger out of his face.

"And what have I told you about sticking that finger in someone's face?" Naruto questioned. Hiraku grinned wider as he pulled his hand back and cupped both hands behind his neck.

"Oh come on, Sensei! I only lied about the chocolate once. And that was when we were starting out. I've matured since!" Suzume rolled her eyes and looked to her teammate.

"Yeah, after Sensei pulled off that stupid technique on you to emphasize the point." Hiraku laughed aloud, recalling the memory. Kiyoko sighed as she facepalmed. Naruto raised an eyebrow as he smirked slightly.

"Are you three set for the mission?" Kiyoko stepped forward as she eyed her teammates before looking to her teacher and nodded.

"After I talked to them, but they were set to go shortly after. They were doing … things." Naruto saw red quickly spread across her cheeks as both Suzume and Hiraku laughed.

"I said you were more than welcomed to join in!" Hiraku said with a smile. Kiyoko immediately blanked out as Suzume shook her head.

"Because that would've made a check off your bucket list." She said coolly to Hiraku. Hiraku merely chuckled as he clapped the back of his blushing teammate's shoulder.

"Ah, don't worry about it Kiyoko. I wouldn't push the matter with you to that extreme. Suzume on the other hand …" Suzume smacked Hiraku upside his head as he quickly recoiled and reached for the sore spot.

"Ouch! Geez Suzume, save it for the other poor souls we gotta kill. Waste your prowess on me and you won't live much longer." Naruto chuckled as he recalled his old team, seeing Sakura coming around the corner in combat attire and bag over the shoulder.

"Nice to have you guys again on a mission. Once we get back, it'll be ramen on me." The three former students grinned once more, looking amongst themselves.

"Best. Sensei. Ever!" Hiraku shouted towards the sky, punching the air as he did. Suzume and Kiyoko gave their teammate smiles; Suzume out of humor, and Kiyoko seemingly out of affection. Naruto chuckled as he walked past them and approached his wife. She saw his approach and quickened her pace towards him.

"The kids are all up." She remarked as she pulled off her bag from her shoulders. Naruto grunted as he looked to Kakashi, who was in the midst of talking with his son.

"Shinachiku and Aimi best hurry, Kakashi wants to leave in thirty."

"Aimi's rearing to go." Naruto turned to see Noboru wheeling up to his parents, his hair sticking up in places, still wearing his sleep wear and glasses propped up on his brow. "Shinachiku is still getting ready." Naruto nodded as he looked towards the other team members that were arriving.

"Doesn't surprise me." He said low. Sakura chuckled as she pushed on his shoulder.

"Wonder who he gets that from?" She said with a smirk. Naruto returned it as he stepped up to Sakura and wrapped his arms around her, looking down at her.

"Must be his mother … who takes her time in the bathroom getting ready for work." He said teasingly. Sakura grunted in amusement as she gave him a glare.

"Or perhaps his father … who still has a hard time getting up first thing in the morning." Naruto chuckled as he loosened his hold and stepped back.

"What can I say … you're hard to resist." Noboru and Sakura both rolled their eyes, though Noboru did it with a scowl on his face by the words being exchanged between his parents. Sakura seemed to be resisting a smile.

"Cute, but you've been doing this before we got together. And I haven't always had a hard time trying to get out of bed in my youth." Naruto raised his hands in defeat, keeping his smirk.

"Fine, I'll give you that. But what better quality to have from his old man." Sakura shook her head as she looked to Noboru, her expression softening a lot."

"Are you going to be okay here by yourself?" She asked. Naruto frowned as he watched his son huff, running his hand through his hair.

"Mom, I'm going to be fine here with these guys. I'm not concerned in the least bit. And neither should you. I can take care of myself, you taught me. Hinata Sensei taught me. I'll be fine helping out here." Sakura continued to look at her eldest son before she sighed and nodded, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Nothing reckless, okay?" Noboru was about to groan as he looked to his father, though Naruto gave him an expectant glare.

 _Just reassure her and it'll end quicker, kiddo._ He thought to himself.

Noboru looked away from his father and muttered that he would be, opening his arms to allow for a hug and Sakura bent down to reciprocate the action. Naruto nodded as he looked back towards the direction of their home.

Sure enough, the other four approached, Yuuta and Hikari in the standard uniform, Aimi and Shinachiku in their own. Aimi didn't cut her hair, though no longer sporting pigtails, instead combining into a ponytail. Her t- shirt was replaced with a black windbreaker, though Naruto could see the yellow underlining from a distance. Yellow shorts were switched out with dark green capris, her headband remained on her forehead. A pack that was roughly half her size on her back, and a strained smile on his face. Naruto's heart clenched as he watched his youngest daughter walk towards him.

Turning to Shinachiku, he saw the dead set look in his eyes. Bitterness as well. His preferred gray wear had been switched out for all black. His headband had been left behind.

 ** _He looks like a shinobi._** Kurama noted. Naruto grunted as he crossed his arms, feeling Kakashi approach him from behind.

 _Image means little in the grand scheme of things._

The four stood before their father, Yuuta looking confident, Hikari serious, Aimi nervous, Shinachiku determined. Naruto eyed them all … silent. Moments later, he started to feel tears. He rubbed his eyes and turned away from them, looking at the other shinobi in his team.

"I can change my mind." Naruto said quietly to his children. When he looked back to them, there were mixed expressions. Yuuta almost angry by his father's words. Hikari saddened. Aimi's eyes of potential relief betraying the neutral expression on her face. Shinachiku on the fence, most likely hoping that his father would switch him over to the main team.

"I'm not backing down." Yuuta said low. Naruto looked to his son.

"Yuuta … I don't want you or any of your siblings to die for something like this. I can change the team so that your life isn't forfeit." Yuuta stepped forward and poked at his own chest.

"This is my calling." He said, raising his voice. "I have no intentions to back off because my father happens to be Hokage and has a power over the Village. I'm not a coward. So I will fight beyond the country to defend my home."

"You chose your team, knowing that you couldn't play favorites." Hikari calmly noted. Naruto spared his eldest daughter a glance, before looking to Aimi, now conflicted with what her older siblings were saying.

"And what would have been your reactions if I didn't put any of you on?" Naruto asked. "Would you still say that it was your duty to follow against my orders?" Yuuta chuckled darkly as he crossed his arms.

"I still would have gone after you regardless. You know from when I was in the Academy that this is what I've wanted to do for a long time. To protect my home from any threat that comes our way. I don't fear death, Dad. If it means my death for peace, then I'll gladly accept that." Naruto bit his lip, silent for a moment before he nodded his head, turning it to the other three.

"I guess … this is your last chance before we head out." Naruto said. Yuuta and Hikari didn't waver as they proceeded to walk past their father, Naruto dully noting their decision. He then turned to his youngest two. Both conflicted.

Aimi looked on the verge of taking her father's offer, and yet something was having her bite her tongue. Shinachiku was also looking conflicted, but the moment Naruto turned his gaze onto him, he changed his expression.

"It's too simple of a mission. It'll be over and done with before the war ends. Then you'll see it was a mistake to put me on this assignment."

"Excuse me?" Sakura's voice emanated from behind Naruto, and he could feel the intensity from behind him. And so did Shinachiku, because he quickly backed off as his mother approached him. Sakura stood right in front of him, hands on her hips, looking slightly down at her son.

"I don't know who the hell you're talking to, young man. But he is your father! He wants nothing but the best for you, and you have the audacity to say that his judgment is a mistake? Had I been in his place, your ass would be staying put. Any more lip from now to the time we all leave, I will have your father ground you here on paperwork duty until we get back. Do you understand me?" Shinachiku finally looked up, and Naruto could see the anger in his eyes.

"Assuming we all come back alive. Maybe if I faked my death, I wouldn't have to deal with all this bullshit." Shinachiku said aloud.

"Then I'd best keep my eyes on you." Kakashi interjected before either Naruto or Sakura could react to their son's words. He approached the family and stood next to Sakura, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll take him from here Sakura. Rest assured, he'll come back alive, Aimi too if she is ready and willing." Kakashi turned his head to Aimi, and she snapped out of her shock from Shinachiku's words, looking to Kakashi and nodding.

"Of course, Kakashi Sensei." She said, looking to Shinachiku coldly, perhaps the first time Naruto has seen such an expression from his youngest daughter. "Even if Shina's not up to it, I'm more than ready to go save Mai." Shinachiku was about to retort, but Kakashi beat him to the punch by starting the debriefing.

"We're going up and around the country and heading west across the large landmass." Kakashi said. "Along the way, we are undoubtedly going to cross some enemies. But with our combined skills, they should be of little issue. Once we get to the Duelists Army country, we'll start inquiring the area as to where Mai's whereabouts are. Until then, we push for the long distances, catch whatever transportation we can. And learn whatever there is in the different environments. Are we clear?"

"Hai." Aimi said loudly. Shinachiku glanced in her direction with a look of loathing before he nodded. Kakashi nodded in turn.

"Get ready, we leave in five." Aimi and Shinachiku walked off to manage their stuff as Naruto and Sakura watched them.

"Almost time." Sakura muttered, sighing to relieve her body. Naruto glanced over to his wife.

"They'll be fine. And hopefully," Naruto looked to Shinachiku who leaned against the wall brooding.

"Shina will change for the better." Sakura pursed her lips before she nodded as well.

Kakashi approached the two and motioned them over.

"I just want to give some parting words to you two." Kakashi said. The couple looked to each other before turning back to their sensei. Kakashi crossed his arms and looked between them.

"The journeys have been tough. And though I would have liked to have taught both of you everything I know, I don't think that's going to happen. Nonetheless, the two of you have become the finest Shinobi I've ever had the privilege of working with. Whether we come out of this alive or in a body bag, know that I'm extremely proud to have been your teacher. You are wonderful parents to your children, teachers to your students, and protectors to the Village you serve. We part for war, and hope to rejoin in peace." Kakashi bowed his head, as Naruto and Sakura shifted in their positions uncomfortably. Naruto let out a nervous laugh.

"Oh come on, Sensei!" Naruto said with a forced grin, bringing his arms behind his head. "We all have a knack of getting through the thick and thin. This is going to be a cake walk." He then looked to Sakura who didn't seem to be as convinced, and it was there that Naruto dropped his arms and exhaled his pent up tension.

"I know you promised me to bring them back Kakashi. And … I have faith that you're going to do it." Naruto said. Kakashi looked to Naruto as he closed his eyes and nodded.

"Mai's tough. I doubt she's been easy for them to deal with. I don't think we have much to worry about besides remaining undetected. By the time we get to the Duelists country, Shina will be better suited to handle the trials." Naruto's heart clenched when his teacher mentioned his son and looked to him, now getting off the wall.

"I hope so." Naruto said. Kakashi nodded as he turned to his teammates.

"Let's go you two." He said in a brisk tone. Aimi nodded, before looking to her parents, and Naruto could see the tears well up in her eyes and feel the ones in his. Aimi walked up to the two of them and wrapped her arms around the both of them. Naruto hugged his daughter and wife tightly, wishing that he couldn't let go. But it was brief, and Aimi pulled away as she grabbed her bag and walked away from her parents. Naruto looked to Shinachiku as he walked away.

"Shina!" Naruto shouted, half choked. Shinachiku stopped in his tracks and looked back to his father. Naruto cleared his voice as pointed to Aimi.

"Make sure you look after your sisters and Kakashi, okay?" Shinachiku just looked at his father before he casted his eyes downward and proceeded on his path. Kakashi followed his teammates in silence and Naruto felt his heart being constricted. He could hear Sakura crying hard, and he wrapped an arm around his wife in comfort. Sobs would have wracked Naruto, but he held them back as best he could for her sake, looking to Noboru, who had remained where he was throughout the ordeal.

"Stay in contact, okay?" Naruto whispered. Noboru looked up to his father and flashed him a grin.

"We'll make it dad. The six of us inherited your guy's stubbornness to die. We won't be going down easy."

 **Author's Note:**

 **You know, there are days when I want to do things, and days I just have no inclination to do them at all. Stuff that needs to be done. And all of these other things that require my attention ... and that's why I haven't updated at all. Sorry about that.**

 **It's long, and yet it feels chopped up, unfocused. So if it appears to be like that, well I only got to briefly touch this chapter here and there over my absence. I should consider just writing shorter chapters ... but it's hard for me to do so. Just a habit I've had since I've started writing. Hopefully I be getting back into the swing of things.**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter, great! If not, sorry to disappoint.**

 **Until next time, see ya!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Up and Around

 **I do not own** ** _Naruto_** **nor the character Shinachiku. Both belong with their respective owners.**

 _Konohagakure 23 Years Ago_

 _"_ _As such, whatever remained of the army has been eliminated or captured shortly after the retrieval of the children. Karin and the short lived revival of Otogakure have been eliminated."_

 _Kakashi listened on to Shikamaru's report before the Nanadaime Hokage. Naruto had his bandaged hand to his chin in deep thought. Konohamaru, Shino, Rock Lee, Iruka, and Tsunade stood before the Hokage waiting for any inclination of words._

 _"_ _Does this mean that we won't be hearing anything from them again?" Naruto asked as he turned his attention towards Shikamaru. His aide merely nodded._

 _"_ _The only thing that I think would cause any trouble are the twins." Naruto and Kakashi flinched at the mentioning of the two children that had been recovered from the site of their recent skirmish with Karin and the remnants of Sasuke's Cursed Seal Army. Shikamaru coughed to bring attention back to himself and proceeded to look down to his clipboard._

 _"_ _With the children in mind, Lord Hokage, we need to decide what to do with them. Personally, my biggest concern will be for the stronger of the two." Naruto held up his hand to stop Shikamaru and looked to Tsunade._

 _"_ _What do we know about that child's condition?" He asked the retired kunoichi. Tsunade sighed as she leaned back on a couch in the room._

 _"_ _Whatever cruel experimentations the woman did to her son are now permanent. Through the use of genetic manipulation via certain growth hormones and chemicals, Karin managed to give the child the perfect genes to successfully combat anything that came its way. But she also manipulated the aging of the boy so that she wouldn't have to wait so long for him to grow. Judging by his twin brother, who strangely hadn't been tested on, the twins are three months old. The mutated boy already has the body of a five-year-old, strength of a ten-year-old, and mental capacity of a fifteen-year-old. However, with the accelerated process to his body, his body will grow quicker than a regular child. While the life span of an average male is above seventy, his life span won't be much more than four years if he maintains a healthy lifestyle."_

 _Naruto seemed to be hurt by everything Tsunade had laid out before him. Kakashi understood why, and would be lying if he said he didn't feel the same way._

 _"_ _I don't recommend the orphanage for either of them." Iruka spoke, looking to Naruto. "The fact that they're Sasuke's children as well would make it a terrible decision on our part if we let those two boys on their own." Naruto shook his head._

 _"_ _I never had any intention of putting those two through what I've been through, Iruka. Especially with the oldest child's potential. Undoubtedly he knows about his father and his heritage, he would be too dangerous to set loose on the world."_

 _"_ _Then what do you recommend for them?" Iruka asked. Naruto hesitated to speak before looking to Tsunade for help. Kakashi would have sweatdropped if not for the fact that he didn't have a situation occur during his time as Hokage. Given that he wasn't a father, and Naruto had only been married for a month with no kids currently on the way. It was a trivial matter._

 _Tsunade brought her hand to her mouth and thought about it for a while._

 _"_ _I don't want to risk exposing the bigger child yet. We need to get him acclimated to regular social contact before we even think about it. Someone to watch over him and have a rotation every two hours so that he meets a variety of people. For him I recommend an isolated setting, one Anbu guarding over him, and visitors that come in every two hours. Should he need time alone, we shall give it to him. Until he shows that he can be accepting towards others and behaves out in the public setting, we will think about having him live with someone should the time come." Naruto looked hesitant by what Tsunade proposed but eventually nodded his head._

 _"_ _Then we make that effective at once. Shikamaru, if you can create a list of shinobi and kunoichi who will be capable of watching him and interacting with him, schedule that as well."_

 _"_ _What about the case when he goes to attack the chaperone with a killing intent." Shino questioned quietly._

 _"_ _Restrain and subdue." Naruto simply said. Shino hummed loud enough so that everyone can hear. Kakashi quickly caught on what he was getting at, even Shikamaru glanced to the side knowingly._

 _"_ _There's more to what you're implying." Kakashi pointed out. "Since the child is technically at a mental maturity of fifteen at this point and in the next three months the age of twenty, he knows his surroundings and what his actions are. He's not a child mentally, he's currently an adolescent. Meaning if he does go to kill, do we charge him as we would any adult? Do we not have the right to defend ourselves against an adult?" Naruto paled when Kakashi brought that up and looked to the other faces in the room. Kakashi followed suit, seeing that the atmosphere had drastically changed, and a moment of realization dawning upon them. Tsunade sighed as she looked down to the ground._

 _"_ _The implications are solid." She said aloud. Naruto looked shocked by what they were saying._

 _"_ _But he isn't supposed to be at that age, he looks like a five-year-old! Do we kill him based on that?" He questioned._

 _"_ _I see no reason why we shouldn't." Shino said. "Tsunade delivered her research to us. If the circumstances were different Lord Hokage, my thoughts would be different. But as it stands, I see no reason why we shouldn't have the right to defend ourselves and end his life so that he isn't a future threat to our comrades. Karin trained him to fight like his father through Orochimaru's journals, whom you had a difficult time with. If he was trained to be like Sasuke, then we may not stand a chance."_

 _"_ _You're suggesting we end his life now." Naruto concluded quietly. Shino merely nodded._

 _"_ _As inhumane as it sounds. Again, were the circumstances different, I wouldn't have thought of this as a possibility. But the circumstances are not what I want them to be. What is one life compared to the populace of a Village? All it takes is one ill person to wipe out a population. And this 'child' possess that power. It is your call in the end Naruto. All I ask is that you consider the people before the life of your former teammate's son. He only has four years to live. We may be doing him a favor."_

 _The room was silent as they took in what Shino had said. Kakashi felt a little sour by what Shino had said, but he was right by every means._

 _"_ _I'll make my decision when we post the schedule." Naruto said quietly as he picked up a pen and scribbled on a piece of paper. Naruto stopped scribbling before he looked up to his crowd and set aside his pen._

 _"_ _Then there's the matter of the other child." Naruto broke the air of uneasiness, to which Iruka cleared his throat._

 _"_ _He can be adopted to one of our retired shinobi, perhaps." Naruto nodded as he looked to Tsunade._

 _"_ _Can you take him in?" Tsunade frowned and closed her eyes thinking about it._

 _"_ _I don't know, Naruto. My place isn't what I would call clean, and my habits aren't what I would consider family friendly." She opened her eyes and looked back to Naruto. "I'll do it if you've got no one else to do it. Though he's definitely not going to be a shinobi under my watch." Naruto shrugged._

 _"_ _All I care about is for him to have a place to call home and be happy with his guardian."_

 _"_ _I could do it." Iruka said. "I won't push him to be a shinobi, but-"_

 _"_ _I'll do it." Kakashi interrupted loudly._

 _This caught everyone in the room off guard, even himself. Naruto nervously laughed._

 _"_ _Uh, Kakashi- Sensei, no offense, but I don't think you have that … parental care quality that others would have." Kakashi crossed his arms._

 _"_ _Well, there's no better time than now is there?" Naruto paled again and proceeded to run his hand through his hair._

 _"_ _Why do you feel that you need to do it?" Naruto whispered._

 _"_ _Because I've failed many times before." Kakashi stated. "I should have pulled you under my wing when Jiraiya wasn't around. Stopped Sasuke from leaving, have stopped him from pursuing his path. There are many things I've done wrong Naruto. With Sasuke's son … I can make amends to him, and assure he lives a happy life."_

 _"_ _Your lifestyle isn't one I would consider family friendly either, Kakashi." Tsunade dully noted. Kakashi felt the sweat bead on his forehead, before turning to Naruto._

 _"_ _It's your choice, Naruto. Whether you assign me or Iruka as his guardian matters little. It's not that I think I would do a better job, it what I want to do for Sasuke's memory. To ensure that his youngest son won't follow the path his father took. There is more of a sentimental feeling with this. I don't want you to look at this child and say 'I see Sasuke in him.' I want you to look at him and say, 'There's Sasuke's son.'"_

 _Naruto pondered over Kakashi's words and looked between his two former teachers before sighing and reaching for his pen again._

 _"_ _Iruka, I think you know where I going with this." Iruka merely smiled and looked to Kakashi._

 _"_ _It might be for the best. Perhaps Kakashi will be more thorough with him than I." Kakashi shrugged._

 _"_ _We may find that I'm the laziest guardian on the damn planet. In which case it would be best to place Iruka as a second guardian, followed by you Naruto." Whatever Naruto had been writing was ruined as the pen slide right across the paper as he looked up to his former teacher._

 _"_ _What!" Naruto yelled. Kakashi sighed._

 _"_ _The kid is going to need more role models than myself. While you're not whom I call perfect, you're still a damn good person to look up to. You could definitely encourage him to be whatever he wants to be." Naruto looked at his sensei in shock before he nervously chuckled._

 _"_ _Well … alright then, guess that makes me 'Uncle' now doesn't it." Kakashi rolled his eyes._

 _"_ _Whatever you say, Naruto." Naruto proceeded to pull out the paperwork, muttering under his breath about already being tired of it, and signed at the bottom handing the papers over to Tsunade._

 _"_ _She'll help you with getting everything else ready. Oh, what are you going to call him? Not after me, right?" Kakashi huffed._

 _"_ _I'd rather have only one Naruto floating around here. Two is going to get everyone confused, especially since the kid is going to be totally unlike you." Kakashi proceeded to walk out with Tsunade, debating on whether he would name the child 'Obito', but he quickly pushed it away. Thinking that there would only be one true Obito Uchiha. This child would be different, and needed a name that would make him stand out._

 _Takeshi …._

 _Present Day_

"You still awake there, Kakashi- Sensei?" Kakashi scrambled awake as he got to his feet and looked around his surroundings, seeing Aimi standing right beside him and Shinachiku standing off in the distance. Kakashi sighed as he collected his breath and look to Aimi, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry, dozed off into a dream." Aimi merely smiled as she went to her bag as Kakashi reached for his, pulling out a water canteen and turning away from the two as he pulled down his mask, bringing it to his mouth and drinking from it.

"It's been half an hour, were losing sunlight." Shinachiku pointed out. Kakashi pulled his drink away from his lips and covered his mouth again.

"We'll set up camp here for the night." Kakashi said as he stretched his limbs. "I'm rather tired myself." Aimi frowned while her brother scowled.

"Gee, get assigned an important mission and I get stuck with my father's lazy ass sensei who couldn't even run the entire day through." Aimi quickly turned on her brother angrily.

"Shina! That's not nice to say!" She scolded him. Shinachiku shrugged as he threw his bag down.

"I don't give a damn. If we're not going to get a leader who takes his missions seriously, he's gonna get what he deserves." Kakashi rolled his shoulders as he looked over to the youngest member of his team.

"Hm, and what do I deserve, Shinachiku? Backlash from my subordinate?"

"You're retired." Shinachiku pointed out. Kakashi chuckled darkly.

"Yes, and not what I used to be for sure. However, you'll find that I'm still capable of many things. And you seem to forget that I was the Kage before your father. I know many tricks up my sleeve, and can probably still contend with the best." Shinachiku snorted as he pulled out his sleeping bag.

"Right, as if you can keep up with us. You already want to rest after we've only traveled for half a day." Kakashi hummed for a moment before he turned to Shinachiku.

"Tell you what kid, how about we do a little sparring session. No weapons, tools, jutsu or chakra involved. Just a straight up sparring match mano a mano." Shinachiku perked up by this mentioning, though he quickly receded.

"Why would I waste my energy on you when there are more imposing threats out there." Kakashi shrugged.

"But wouldn't I be easy to take on? After all, I'm just a retired shinobi, tired after his recent trek from the Village. Wouldn't take you but a moment. Unless of course, you're incorrect about your assumption of me." Kakashi noticed a vein bulge when he put Shinachiku's claim on the line, somewhat amused that he indeed was like his father.

Shinachiku straightened his back and walked to the other side of the clearing.

"You're going to regret this." He said in a low voice. Aimi stepped in between the two.

"Enough! Kakashi- Sensei, there's no need for this. As Shinachiku pointed out, there are threats out there, and the last thing we need to do is pin each other against one another." Kakashi nodded.

"In any other sense Aimi, you are correct. However, you will find that this will be a quick affair. Though determined like his father, he's still just as reckless and narrow minded as your father was at his age. I can assure you Aimi, it is nothing more than a friendly competition."

Aimi bit her lip as she looked between her leader and her brother. Shinachiku rolled his eyes and waved at Aimi.

"Just get out of the way Aimi. As he pointed out, it's a quick affair. He'll be on the ground in no time flat." Kakashi chuckled as Aimi looked to him.

"Don't worry, nobody's getting hurt." Aimi sighed as she slowly backed up.

"Fine, any broken bones … and I'll-"

"Then you can be team leader." Kakashi concluded as he proceeded to pull out his book. "To be honest, I'd rather win this bout or you be correct Aimi. I doubt Shinachiku would be a good leader like his father."

Kakashi put his sights on his book, not even reading anything and waiting for Shinachiku to inevitably charge. He knew that Shinachiku wasn't fond of being associated with his father, and being put down as someone below him stung Shinachiku's pride. As such, Shinachiku would just go for a solid punch, nothing more elaborate. If Kakashi was a betting man, he would put his theory at a success rate near ninety-five percent and believe he would definitely win.

Sure enough, Kakashi listened to footsteps charging towards him. He noticed a leaf on the ground and bent over to pick it up, and Shinachiku missed his punch by a long shot, allowing Kakashi to step forward a little extending his shoulder out and allow his opponent's momentum knock his breath out with said shoulder. He heard Shinachiku gasp for breath as Kakashi picked up the leaf and quickly shot his hand upward, upper cutting Shinachiku underneath his jaw and knocking him flat to the ground as Kakashi studied the leaf in his hand.

"What a lovely leaf." Kakashi announced, proceeding to look down to Shinachiku. "What do you think, Shinachiku?" Naturally, no response. Aimi quickly rushed up and checked Shinachiku's pulse.

"Out cold. But no broken bones." Aimi looked up to her leader with a condescending look that her mother had. Kakashi merely smirked as he let the leaf from his hand fall to the ground.

"Well, with Shinachiku exhausted from today's travel, I say we pitch camp here." He turned around and started to walk off. "I'll be back in a bit Aimi. You just watch Shinachiku while I go collect some tinder."

Kakashi took the second night shift and sat before the fire quiet and alert. His senses never quite going dull. Needless to say Shinachiku was salty when he woke up several hours later when it was his turn to wake up for the night shift. But Kakashi noted that it was just part of these kind of missions, and if Shinachiku wanted more of them, he was going to have to suck it up.

Which he did without a word.

The following morning, Kakashi woke up with a sore back and creaking bones, having him resort to some medication prescribed to him some years ago. He swallowed his pills glumly, reminiscing of his younger years with his teammates and students. If he were to be honest himself, he shouldn't be doing any more missions past his age. He was one-year shy of being sixty, well past his physical prime by twenty years, and the many missions he's taken on have taken their toll. And yet … he simply couldn't let Naruto and Sakura go after their daughter. Having been their sensei for several years, he knew them too well. And they would destroy everything in their paths to get their daughter home safely. For that reason alone, did Kakashi take on the mission.

Aimi and Shinachiku both had dark bags under their eyes when Kakashi joined them at the dying fire, which reminded him of his first mission that had similar circumstances.

"What's the plan from here on?" Shinachiku asked quietly. Kakashi looked to him for a moment before he plucked a stick off the ground and beckoned his teammates over with him.

"It's a far trek from our country over to the Duelist's home turf." Kakashi began to draw a crude picture of a large continent, marking a small x on what was supposed to be their country, and followed up with a circle on the other side, almost feeling the tension emanate from Aimi.

"But that's so far!" Aimi said aloud, pulling her hands to her hair. "How are we going to get to Mai in time!"

"Not to mention we have to factor in the fact we don't know exactly where she is within their country." Shinachiku pointed out, taking Kakashi's drawing stick and circling other parts. "And other factors such as wear and tear on our bodies, enemies we are going to have to cross eventually, laying low. This could take us a while." Kakashi hummed as a dark though came across his mind.

"Want good news or bad news?" He said, looking up to the siblings, now sharing a look of skepticism before nodding lightly. Kakashi looked back down to his map.

"Well, let's start with good news then. They're not going to kill your sister yet. She still has some use to them yet for the next several months. Information being one of them. The issue is that your parents or any of their members can enter conflict with them else they provoke them to kill Mai. And we need to avoid as much combat as possible." Kakashi looked to Shinachiku who threw his hands up in the air.

"Are you saying we're just going to let them kill us if they come across our paths." Kakashi shook his head.

"No, but that's only if circumstances arise. If we keep our heads done and avoid annoying anybody we might not have to fight anybody from here to the Duelists. But that requires some training on your end Shinachiku." The young teen was about to retort before Kakashi held up his hand.

"Chunnin Exams, your opponent got the upper hand on you because you lacked subtlety and the means to detect it. Sure, you got the edge on your opponent by playing dead, but I can recall several of your spars with comrades, siblings and your parents where they could hide and you wouldn't be able to find them whatsoever, hence your subsequent loses to them. You now need to start incorporating those things as a Shinobi. You can't be a brute in these times. You need to be refined."

"I am refined." Shinachiku countered. Kakashi and Aimi raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, what about when Kakashi knocked you out last night with only two moves?" Shinachiku flushed in embarrassment as he turned his head.

"Doesn't count." Kakashi grinned as he kept his thoughts to himself and looked back down to the map.

"Before we hit the Mongol territory, we'll be spending a lot of time on avoiding detection. And hopefully it will be enough to hold up until after we get Mai." Aimi frowned as she looked to Kakashi.

"Wait, concerning Mai. You said information was just one of the factors that would be keeping her alive. What are the others?"

Being asked that soured Kakashi from the previous as he ran his hand through his hair, looking between the brother and sister for a moment.

 _Unfortunately, it's a truth that they need to understand will happen in these times._

"I call it plenty of time, because of the fact that Mai could be used as a means of relief for some of the … desperate, hungry, whatever you wish to call them. And in truth, that's the worse news for us to know of. That Mai will be raped to please our enemy. Used for producing their own. By keeping your father at bay with the threat of killing her, the more they can use Mai for their selfish desires."

It became awfully quiet, much to Kakashi's displeasure. Shock and worry were present on the siblings faces, Aimi looking sick by the thought and Shinachiku disgusted.

"Plenty of time?" Shinachiku questioned quietly. He then stared to Kakashi angrily. "You call that plenty of time!" All of these words he shouted at the top of his voice, causing the old sensei to flinch.

"My sister is potentially getting raped and you call that plenty of time?" Kakashi sighed.

"At this point, if Mai hasn't used up all of her information and they have yet to administer drugs into her body for restraining her, then for all we know that is what they are doing right now."

"Then why are we still here!" Aimi questioned loudly as she proceeded to grab her bag. "We need to go now!" Kakashi looked as Shinachiku followed his sister's lead, grabbing his own bag and caught his own as Aimi threw it to him.

"Calm down for a moment. This is what I'm talking about." He said in a calm voice.

"How are you calm!" Shinachiku shouted.

"I'm calm because somebody needs to be sensible. Both of you, meditate for a moment and then I'll explain why I'm not getting worked up about it as much as the two of you are."

After a little more convincing, the two finally obeyed Kakashi's command and finally relaxed before Kakashi closed his eyes.

"I chose you two for different reasons, and yet it seems that my reasoning has been thrown out the window. For you Shinachiku, it was to teach you that no matter the mission, they are all important. Regardless if you're on the front lines or not. For Aimi, it was to keep me from losing my cool with you. And because the two of you are Mai's younger siblings. Now I see that I should have chosen different members for my team because of the family ties. It's too late to turn back, and I need to teach the two of you a lesson in patience, something your parents took years to understand.

"You can't rush into things head on without addressing all of the possibilities. Always maintain a level head no matter the mission. Don't let your emotions become the driving force of your goal. The goal is the objective."

"And yet it worked for our parents." Shinachiku pointed out. Kakashi sighed.

"You're part of a different generation, Shina. It worked well for your parents because their personal codes wouldn't let them give up no matter the situation. How they are still standing today is beyond me, but now they're respected by their colleagues and comrades. You two are still young and developing. By being calm, you think clearer. With emotions running high, you're clouded. Be the sun, not the rain. Rest assured guys, your sister will be fine so long as we proceed with caution. I have no doubt Mai is doing everything she can to resist. We must be quick. But we must be patient as well."

At that moment, Kakashi turned his back and stretched his limbs.

"Now, we do need to hurry. For our first exercise, the two of you will be running in the trees as I run the ground. I will be listening for any faults in your attempts to be quiet. We will alternate so that everybody is training. It has been a while since I've done a mission, so this will be beneficial for all of us." Kakashi looked back to his younger comrades and gestured with his head.

"Shall we begin?"

 **Author's Note:**

 **And there we go.**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter, great! If not, sorry to disappoint.**

 **Until next time, see ya!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Rendezvous

 **** ** _I do not own the series Naruto nor the character Shinachiku. Both belong with their respective owners._**

 _Konohagakure 23 Years Ago_

 _"_ _Well that didn't take long now did it?" Ino said with a smirk. Sakura glared at her friend before looking back to her mentor._

 _"_ _You're positive those were the results, Tsunade Sama?" Sakura asked. Tsunade allowed a small smile and handed her the paperwork in her hands._

 _"_ _Do you want to read the results yourself, Sakura?" Tsunade asked. Sakura accepted the pile of papers from her sensei and started sifting through them. Ino merely chuckled._

 _"_ _The two of you have only been married a little over a month, yet you somehow managed to get pregnant in that amount of time. With the way that reception was, we all thought the two of you would have been too tired to even think about horsing around. Hell, I thought the two of you would have waited at least a year or two before thinking about having kids." Sakura glanced over the paper to Ino and huffed._

 _"_ _Things happen when you're drunk, Ino. And this just happens to be one of those things."_

 _"_ _Isn't that for sure." Ino said, grinning ear to ear. She then reached over and placed a hand over Sakura's and gave her a genuine smile. "Regardless Sakura, I think congratulations are in order." Sakura laid the papers on the table and retracted her hand from Ino's looking to Tsunade, not quite looking happy._

 _"_ _So now I've got two complications." Sakura said aloud. "How am I going to take care of my child to term, and what the hell I'm going to tell Naruto. He's got enough on his plate after what happened at New Otogakure and the twins." Tsunade raised an eyebrow._

 _"_ _The matter has already been taken care of Sakura. Didn't Naruto tell you of what was going on with the twins?" Sakura shook her head._

 _"_ _He's been pretty busy with the paperwork concerning the whole ordeal, had to make several trips out to the other Villages personally so that he could explain the situation to the other Kage. And I've been here puking my brains out every morning since he's been out." Ino snorted._

 _"_ _Only a month, and you guys don't even know what's going on with the other." Sakura sighed._

 _"_ _Ino, we've been teammates for a decade at this point. We only need to check on each other at least once a day to assure the other we're still alive. Trust me, he's only concerned when I bring it to his attention. Which brings me back to my complication on how I'm going to tell him. Because the two of you know how bad he can get when he's worried."_

 _"_ _Like his proposal to you?" Tsunade said with a grin. Sakura rolled her eyes._

 _"_ _That's in the past, we're married now. But now we're parents with a child on the way. How do I go about telling Naruto without him freaking out and being overprotective?"_

 _"_ _Set the boundaries." Tsunade said simply. "It's natural for a father-to-be losing sleep over such matters, and with Naruto also being Hokage, you need to reassure him that everything is going to be alright. I say let Naruto run his mouth for a bit and let him speak his mind then smack him upside the head so that you can lay down the rules. You're familiar with how pregnancy works, so you can explain to him the different stages over the course of nine months. Ease him in to the new lifestyle." Sakura listened on as she brought her hand beneath her chin, staring off in the distance. Ino leaned back in her chair looking between the student and master._

 _"_ _Why are you concerned with how he's going to react?" Ino asked. "He's had plenty of moral support over the years without his parents." Sakura turned to look at her friend, looking slightly annoyed._

 _"_ _That's just it though. Friends are different from parents. Sure, he's had familial figures like Iruka, Kakashi, Jiraiya and Tsunade, and he has met his parents, that doesn't mean that he's got a clue on how to be a parent. He's not going to be one to not care. He's going to be one to overreact to everything that impacts the child negatively."_

 _"_ _And it will cool down over time, Sakura." Tsunade reassured her student. "Just go tell him. No surprise or anything like that. Just go talk to him and that'll be it." Sakura comprehended her teacher's words before she sighed._

 _"_ _That's probably the best I can hope for, isn't?" Ino chuckled._

 _"_ _Well it was bound to happen and it did shortly after the two of you got married." She proceeded to lean back in her seat. "So have you thought of who the godparent is going to be?" Sakura glared at her best friend._

 _"_ _I'm not even at the halfway point and you're already talking about godparents." Ino shrugged._

 _"_ _What, can't call first dibs?" Sakura bared her teeth, but Tsunade raised her hand to stop Sakura from going any further._

 _"_ _Another time ladies'. I think you should go find Naruto, Sakura. It's best to tell him now than later. It may add on to the work load he has now, but it may prove to be a good distraction, or even a good inspiration for future events." Sakura looked at her mentor for a few more seconds before she nodded and slowly got up, waving to her friend and master before walking away._

 _"_ _Try your best not to puke, Forehead!" Sakura bit her lip to avoid saying anything and proceeded to walk away._

 _On her way home, she thought of how she was going to tell her husband that they would be expecting their first born child in the next eight months, stopping at a food store and getting food to prepare for dinner. If she was to be honest, she really wasn't paying attention to what she was getting, and captured within her own mind._

 _"_ _Sakura … I'm home!" Naruto's voice broke her concentration and Sakura suddenly blushed as she looked down in front of her, seeing chopped vegetables in front of her._

 _"_ _Lovely, didn't even recall getting home." Sakura muttered to herself as she looked over her shoulder and saw that she had something cooking on the stove. "And scarier that I was cooking."_

 _"_ _Is that ramen I smell?" Naruto's voice interrupted her thoughts again and caused her to check the stove again, seeing noodles boiling. She would have groaned if not for the fact Naruto entered the room taking off his black jacket. Sakura quickly lit her expression and turned to her husband._

 _"_ _And how was your day?" Naruto hung his jacket over his chair and walked over to Sakura, kissing the top of her forehead and looking at the pot of noodles._

 _"_ _So it is ramen. Funny, you haven't made ramen before." Sakura huffed as she looked to the chopped vegetables on the counter and the noodles in the pot._

 _"_ _Well … figured I'd try something new." She said weakly, thinking to herself that she had absolutely no clue she was making ramen. Naruto grinned at her as he looked in the fridge for something. Sakura started to wring her hands nervously as she thought of how she was going to break her news._

 _"_ _So … Tsunade mentioned that you were taking care of the twins we recovered from New Otogakure." Naruto pulled out a carton of milk as he grunted in response, going to the cabinet for a glass._

 _"_ _Yeah. With Sasuke's kids, actions needed to be taken. And different ones for the two of them. Kakashi's adopted the youngest of the two." This caught Sakura off guard as she raised an eyebrow._

 _"_ _Kakashi … a father?" Naruto chuckled nervously as he poured his glass of milk._

 _"_ _Well … I won't say that the decision making process was easy. Tsunade had offered, Iruka as well and would have been the better choice. Though Kakashi stepped forward and swore he would do it."_

 _"_ _Undoubtedly to make amends for Sasuke." Sakura muttered. Naruto nodded as he brought the glass to his lips. Sakura redirected her attention back to her cooking and the room was silent for a few minutes._

 _"_ _What's to be done with the other child?" She asked. Naruto brought the glass from his lips and reached for the carton._

 _"_ _Regulated babysitting visits every day by Chunnin and Jounin. A means to interact with him and get him to better acclimate to life here. Hopefully he makes good progress and we can let him loose around the Village."_

 _"_ _Do you think it's possible for him?" Sakura questioned. "Given what he's gone through." Naruto shrugged as he looked at the milk carton._

 _"_ _I'm not going to doubt that he can't get used to living here. I just hope Karin wasn't terrible to him. Otherwise …." He just left the sentence in the air unfinished, though Sakura seemed to have gotten the picture and turned back to her cooking._

 _"_ _But that was my day. How was yours?" Naruto questioned. Sakura felt her gut clench as she tried to form words concerning their new addition, but resolved to giving him a play by play of her day which should hopefully lead to her revelation._

 _"_ _Well …" Sakura began. "When I got up this morning, I felt the urge to vomit."_

 _"_ _Are you getting sick?" Naruto asked in a concerned tone. Sakura bit her lip as she held back her news, starting to stir the noodles._

 _"_ _Not quite. I went to see Tsunade to have it checked out and she did a few tests on me to ensure I wasn't dealing with anything. After that, it was business as usual at the hospital."_

 _"_ _And …." Naruto said expectantly. Sakura paused for a moment and pulled the spoon out of the water to turn around and look at her husband. They stared at each other for moments, Naruto waiting for his answer and Sakura trying to build her courage., giving him a weak smile once she had it._

 _"_ _We're going to have a new addition to our family." Naruto stared blankly at her for a few moments before pulling out a chair._

 _"_ _Well, great that you decided to get a pet … whatever one you chose and hopefully not a snake. But are you sick or not?"_

 _Sakura stood there in stunned silence, in slight disbelief that her husband was not putting two and two together, instead thinking that they were expecting a pet. She didn't want pets and he knew that._

 _"_ _You amaze me at how idiotic you can be sometimes." Sakura sighed as she leaned against the counter and rubbed her temples. "That certainly hasn't changed since I've met you." Naruto raised an eyebrow._

 _"_ _What are you talking about? I'm questioning whether you're sick or not."_

 _"_ _Yet the fact that I threw up this morning and said we were expecting a new addition wasn't enough for you to figure out? You missed the broad side of the barn by a mile, idiot." Naruto groaned as he leaned his arm onto the table, a dull thud echoing the kitchen._

 _"_ _Then please elaborate on what I'm missing out." Naruto asked._

 _"_ _We're expecting a child, Naruto." Sakura said._

 _It became deathly quiet in the room as Naruto's expression changed from confused to shocked. His mouth started to hang open as Sakura took in a breath of relief, glad that breaking the news was off her chest, but now they had to deal with the new situation._

 _"_ _So … I'm gonna be a dad, huh?" Naruto asked as he looked away from his wife. Sakura hummed in approval as she turned her attention back to their meal. He didn't say another word until Sakura placed a bowl of ramen in front of him and looked up to her._

 _"_ _Sakura …" Naruto started, clearly looking scared. "What are we going to do? I don't know what to expect! All my life the only role models I've had are my teammates and colleagues. While I love my parents to death, I never got to experience what a parent does with their child. How am I going to be of any help when the baby comes?" Sakura just looked down at him and noted to herself that it was as she expected of him to do. She placed her bowl to the side and rested her hand on Naruto's shoulder, giving him a soft smile._

 _"_ _I'll be here every step of the way you know. You're not alone, we'll prepare ourselves for whatever comes our way. You'll be a great dad, that much I know already. You have a talent for coming up with things out of the blue. However you handle a situation, I'll help you change it or support it. It's going to be alright."_

 _Present Day_

"Sakura, you awake?"

Sakura groaned as she squirmed in her spot, peeking her eyes open as she saw her husband crouching before her looking slightly concerned. She yawned as she proceeded to get up, Naruto assisting.

"Sorry, guess I fell asleep when we went on break." Naruto smiled at her as he turned back to their team.

"Alright, grab your bags, let's get moving!" Sakura glanced off to the side and saw her bag leaning up against the tree, picking it up and shouldering it. She looked across the space her comrades occupied, seeing some of them snag a quick sip of water or picking up their bags. Naruto stood at the head of the company with Yuuta at his side, apparently making a comment about something.

"We don't have that much farther to go, don't we?" Hikari asked her mother as she approached. Sakura turned to her shaking her head.

"No, we'll probably meet up with the other teams and convene with General Daisuke. Whatever his plan, the Village teams will split from there."

With everyone up and about, Naruto's team started their journey once more. Sakura hung in the back with Takeshi, watching her husband lead in the front. Several hours into the run, Naruto looked back to the entire group.

"Approaching the rendezvous." He then jumped down from the trees and everyone followed suit. Sakura landed onto the ground with a slight grunt, noting that her bones seemed to be aching more than they used to.

"Retirement is sounding good every day." Sakura muttered.

"Did you say something, Aunt Sakura?" Takeshi asked in concern. Sakura chuckled as she gave her nephew a sheepish grin and got up.

"I'm all right, Takeshi." With his hood up, Sakura didn't know if Takeshi bought her lie or doubted her words. He proceeded to walk away from her to a nearby tree as Sakura scanned the clearing for her husband.

Where they had landed was a camp of Samurai and fellow Shinobi from the other Villages. Finding Naruto in the crowd was simple enough though with his blonde hair. Sakura started to walk towards him with Takeshi following.

"So what's the plan of action now?" She heard her son say to his twin.

"We're waiting on that, Yuuta. That's why we're grouping up with everyone else." Hikari said with a light edge in her voice. Sakura turned to her two kids.

"I don't want to hear any bickering between the two of you." Sakura said in a stony tone. Yuuta and Hikari looked to their mother slightly scared of what she would say. "This is a time of war, no time for jokes or scolding one another. On the battlefield, you are comrades and will listen to each other. Your superior is your father. Likewise, during briefings you shouldn't question his authority and need to obey every command he delivers." Sakura paused for a moment and sighed.

"I'm sorry that I'm scolding the both of you right now. But I think I need to reinstate what you've been taught. We'll be on foreign territory, something not even your father has done. And I'm concerned of what will happen. No reckless behavior, understood?" Both her children nodded as quickly as they could and Sakura nodded off in a direction.

"Go rest up. I'm going after Dad." With that said, Sakura turned on her heel and proceeded forward. She felt numb by the way she had to talk to her children as such, cold and indifferent. Knowing that if they were in a life threatening situation, they would have to fend for themselves because of her role as medic. It was against her morals as a mother to simply let her children in harm's way and do nothing to protect them.

She approached the command tent and lifted the flap, seeing Naruto grasp hands with General Daisuke with a taut smile on his face. Sakura could tell he was forcing it, as was the General.

"All enemy forces are making significant moves against one another." Daisuke said to Naruto as he went to the table. "I'm concerned as to whether or not we will be quick enough to quell the fighting before it gets out of hand."

"In all honesty General, that is the least of my concerns." Naruto admitted as he looked down on the map. Sakura walked over to a post and leaned up against it, watching Takeshi flank Naruto and stand guard. The other Kage, she noted were observing the map as well.

"The question is where are we to go first." Darui noted, bringing a hand to his chin. Gaara hummed as he pointed to one point on the map.

"If I'm to be honest, the Mongol's are the least of our concerns." He said lowly. "Given the Lord Hokage's efforts to quell their attacks from the past events." Naruto simply nodded.

"The Villages should be able to handle them without our intervention." He said softly. "It's our unfamiliar foes I'm not as comfortable with. And one I can't even go after because of a hostage situation." The Kage raised an eyebrow as they looked to their fellow.

"Hostage situation, Lord Hokage?" Chojuro questioned. Sakura felt her stomach drop as she covered her face with her hand.

"Needless to say the Duelist's Federation has my daughter captured." Naruto explained. "With the threat of killing her if I or any of my comrades dared confront them."

"Then it'd be best if you avoided them at all costs." Darui said.

"It's all I can do to keep her alive until Kakashi reaches her." Naruto said. Sakura the tension in the room fill, and she couldn't help but sate her curiosity as to how the other Kage reacted, seeing a look of disbelief on their faces.

"Naruto, you do realize that-" Gaara started.

"I would've gone instead Gaara." Naruto interrupted angrily. "By kami I would've. If it wasn't for the rest of the world holding a knife at each other's throats, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. I don't have that luxury. Kakashi offered to go in my stead because he is in retirement. He's technically no longer a true shinobi." Gaara looked like he wanted to argue some more, though Darui raised his hand to stop him and looked to Daisuke.

"If we're going to deal with Duelist's, I can take my forces to combat them. It would be a worthy challenge to see how other swordsman fight. If we get to Kakashi beforehand, then we are to be a force they will regret fighting against." Daisuke nodded.

"Then that is settled." Naruto gave Darui a look, before giving him a nod. Sakura could almost feel a sense of disappointment emanating off her husband. A sense of powerlessness that he couldn't save his own daughter from her captors.

"The Zuluns have made their way north after the Knights made an attack. It was unsuccessful on their part, as such the Zuluns have made way to attack them. As of right now, they cross a vast desert." Daisuke looked to Gaara who merely nodded.

"Interception I presume?" Gaara questioned. "Trapping them in the desert, creating the illusion that they get nowhere."

"Can you do that for an extended period of time?" The General inquired. Gaara shook his head.

"Not long enough for them to die out. But I can get them to walk circles. Pace in a line back and forth. I can redirect them. That, is what I will do." Daisuke nodded and shifted his attention to Naruto.

"I think you can handle the Knights and their allies. They require a more direct approach. Plus, the Armed Forces will be looking out for any notable individuals containing the 'mythical beasts'. It would be best to hand that to Chojuro."

"By means of process of elimination." Chojuro noted. "However, it is probably for the best. Darui's team would have a hard time with their long range weapons, as would Naruto. And Gaara is familiar with the environment the Zuluns travel through. I will request though that once Gaara has quelled the Zuluns he aid me in handling the Armed Forces." Both Gaara and the General nodded.

"So we have our foes." Naruto said. "Now where are our targets?"

"The capitals." Daisuke replied. "The Armed Forces is located on their east coast. Though I highly recommend Lord Mizukage, that you move in to their west coast. Gaara your target is in the south of the Zuluns country. Darui, the Duelists lie west of the mountains that separate the two continents. Lord Hokage, to the west coast beyond said mountains."

"Across the ocean?" Chojuro questioned. "And by what means are we going to get there?" Daisuke and spared the Mizukage a smile.

"Aircraft." He simply said.

Sakura felt her curiosity pique as she tried to recall what the General had been talking about.

"With what funds to get those?" Naruto asked. Daisuke shrugged.

"We … liberated them, to say the least, years ago. The issue isn't going to be flying them. It'll be getting all of you to your destinations."

"So we'll be in flying death boxes with no escape?" Naruto said with an edge in his voice, as if afraid of such a possibility. Daisuke shook his head.

"No, you'll have parachutes to get you to the ground. It'll be landing with the parachutes that'll be tricky. Flying projectiles and all." Naruto shook his head, looking up to Daisuke.

"We run a risk here, General. If that aircraft gets shot down while in flight-"

"I'm afraid this is the quickest means to ending the war, Lord Hokage." Daisuke said, finally putting his foot down. "If circumstances were different, I'd take them. But they're not. They are what they are and that's that. Take another route if you so wish, but you won't be taking my men if that's the case." Naruto groaned as he looked to his colleagues and back down on the map.

"When do we depart then." He asked.

"Once the troops are set to go." Daisuke said. Naruto nodded as he pushed himself off the table and started to leave the tent.

"Then we'll part ways there." He said lowly, and exited the tent. Sakura stirred from her spot and started to follow, Takeshi following suit. Outside, the shinobi of Konoha had formed a semi-circle around their leader, Naruto standing in front of them waiting for a response.

"We'll be dealing with that tri fecto force." Naruto stated. "With twenty of us, we'll divvy up into five four-man teams when dealing with them. Pair up, then Shikayasu and I will evaluate on the ride there. Understood?"

A sharp 'Hai!' resonated through the camp and Naruto gave a brisk nod before he shooed them away and turned to Sakura.

"Think it'd be risky to have you on my team?" Naruto asked. Sakura grunted as she crossed her arms.

"For whose sake? Ours? The kids? The Village?" Naruto gave her a look of uncertainty and turned his gaze to his subordinates.

"I don't know what I'm looking for now." He admitted. "One powerhouse team that will sweep the battle field or divisive teams that ensures strategic advantage."

"We can't rely on one team." Sakura said. "We need to think out these advances, regardless if the war carries on." Naruto shook his head.

"I see the logic Sakura, but I don't want to wait forever. Mai's still out there as a hostage. I want to push through the opposition and break the Duelists for taking our little girl. With every thought out move, we are ensuring our lives will continue. But by doing so Mai suffers longer. That's what's killing me the most. The time we spend doing nothing to save her." Sakura placed a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Enough Naruto." She said in a low tone. "I get it. But as everyone pointed out, our thinking process would have been so different from Kakashi's. We are reckless. The best we can do now is push forward and let Kakashi handle this." Naruto looked down on Sakura, and the two held each other's gaze for a brief moment before he looked away and walked off, letting Sakura's hand slip off. From the vibe he was giving off, he wanted to be left alone.

She understood his pain; she is the mother of their daughter. But as a Hokage, he should be more levelheaded than he is at the moment.

 **Author's Note:**

 **What's this? I came back? Two months of absolutely nothing and this is all I've got so far? Yeah. Unfortunately, having to switch jobs during one of the busiest times of the year, get accustomed to new job and deal with the large workload of said job has taken a lot of time from whatever I have left to spare. And then I've got other things that require my attention, which sadly means that writing fanfiction must be set on the back burner until I can turn my attention to it again. Truth be told, it may be like this until the end of November because my hours are sporadic. I tackled this when I could and felt I could. So if it feels inconsistent, sorry. It has been a while.**

 **If you liked this chapter, great! If not, sorry to disappoint.**

 **Until next time, see ya!**


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